Bertuzzi Staying For The Season – Told To Find Residence

As reported by Helene St. James, Tyler Bertuzzi is going nowhere.

That is music to Bertuzzi’s and every Wings fan’s ears. The team officially telling him to find a place means there is no doubt that Bertuzzi completed his audition with the team successfully. It helps being on a line with a combined 1,413 games of NHL experience in Zetterberg and Nyquist, but he put his mark on the team with 3 assists in his latest 3 games with the team.

Head Coach Blashill had some encouraging things to say about the reigning AHL Calder Cup MVP, as reported in St. James’ story:

“’He does lots of things that I think translate to this level and translate to hard hockey the deeper the year goes,’ coach Jeff Blashill said Tuesday. ‘That’s why I think he’s been a real good playoff performer in GR. I don’t think he was necessarily going to be somebody that led the league in scoring in the American league, but it always seemed like the harder the hockey, the better he was.'”

Before this season started, it was known that Bertuzzi had to claim his spot in the lineup and perform like he should be at the top level in hockey. Unfortunately a bout with injuries kept him away from living his dream and was placed down with the Griffins for the first few months of the season. A strong 7 goals and 14 points in his 16 games with Grand Rapids made the choice for his call-up a simple one for GM Ken Holland.

Where does he fit in the lineup? Immediately, he can stay in Glendening’s spot on the roster but is playing in a more prominent role than him already. In his 5 games this season, Bertuzzi is averaging 14:13 TOI, compare that to Glendening’s 13:31 TOI in 34 games this year and it shows that Blashill really has confidence in the younger player.

The difference is minimal, and will probably average-out to about the same as Bertuzzi’s season progresses, but to have a 22-year-old winger contributing to this team is a breath of fresh air to fans. Hopefully this trend continues and the Red Wings keep on getting younger as we all get older.