By Pierre LeBrun, Fluto Shinzawa, Max Bultman and Eric Duhatschek
The Detroit Red Wings have traded ahead Tyler Bertuzzi to the Boston Bruins, the groups mentioned Thursday. Here’s what it is advisable to know:
- Detroit will obtain a 2024 first-round draft decide (top-10 protected) and a 2025 fourth-round decide in alternate for buying and selling Bertuzzi.
- The Red Wings will retain 50 % of Bertuzzi’s wage.
- Bertuzzi, 28, has 14 factors (4 objectives, 10 assists) in 29 video games this season.
- The Bruins are 47-8-5 this season and sit in first place within the Atlantic Division.
The commerce deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. ET: Follow right here for stay updates.
Why the Bruins are including Bertuzzi
Whether Bertuzzi was within the Bruins’ preliminary plans is unknown. It could also be, although, that accidents to Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno made the Bruins improvise. Hall won’t play Thursday due to a lower-body harm that saved him out the final two video games. Foligno limped out of Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday after being hit by Nikita Zadorov.
The left-shot Bertuzzi offers the Bruins insurance coverage pending the standing of Hall and Foligno. — Shinzawa
Next for Boston: A salary-cap transfer
The Bruins should execute a transaction immediately to attain cap compliance. They are projected to be over the cap, even with Detroit retaining 50 % of Bertuzzi’s wage. They might place Hall ($6 million common annual worth) on long-term injured reserve. The severity of Hall’s lower-body harm, nevertheless, is unknown.
The Bruins might additionally discover a taker for Mike Reilly ($3 million AAV), who’s at the moment buried within the AHL. — Shinzawa
Why the Red Wings made the commerce
Bertuzzi grew from a scrappy second-round decide right into a core piece for the Red Wings all through their rebuild, scoring 30 objectives final season. But he’s a pending unrestricted free agent and the Red Wings moved now to verify they acquired one thing for certainly one of their finest gamers. The 2024 first-rounder (top-10 protected) may very well be extra fascinating than it seems to be at first blush, coming from a Bruins group that has some key gamers whose futures are unsure past this season.
As with the Islanders decide acquired by way of Vancouver, it stays to be seen whether or not the Red Wings preserve the decide or transfer it, however by doing this deal they be sure that they didn’t lose Bertuzzi for nothing and get an honest return within the course of. — Bultman
The Red Wings at the moment are sellers. So what’s subsequent?
Suffice to say Detroit’s administration has pulled the chute on the group’s latest playoff push. The query is, how far does this promoting go? Bottom-six forwards Oskar Sundqvist and Pius Suter are additionally pending UFAs who might assist contenders. Jakub Vrana stays a chance to be dealt. There are definitely extra balls within the air for the Red Wings with 29 hours earlier than the deadline.
And on the ice, eyes now flip to how the locker room will react to seeing two rebuild constructing blocks shipped out in a 24-hour span following a pair of disheartening losses in Ottawa. Last 12 months, Detroit struggled after one other promoting commerce deadline sapped morale. — Bultman
GO DEEPER
What does Red Wings’ catastrophe in Ottawa imply for his or her playoff hopes, commerce deadline?
Scouting report
Bertuzzi has performed his total seven-year profession with the Red Wings after they chose him within the second spherical of the 2013 NHL Draft.
Coming out of the All-Star break, Bertuzzi lastly scored his second purpose of an injury-filled season — after which his ice time elevated dramatically, a sign the Red Wings may very well be attempting to showcase him. The precedence for Detroit was all the time to attempt to get Bertuzzi, a pending unrestricted free agent, signed to a contract extension. Failing that, it needed to see what it might get for a hard-nosed winger who will drive to the online and final 12 months produced 62 factors in 68 video games, second finest on the group.
Bertuzzi has seen restricted motion this 12 months. He broke one hand on Oct. 15, then shortly after returning to the Red Wings lineup after lacking 13 video games, he broke the opposite hand and solely simply returned to motion within the second week of January. Bertuzzi earns an affordable $4.75 million within the last 12 months of his deal. — Duhatschek
Required studying
(Photo: David Kirouac / USA Today)
