Wings take a chance on Bertuzzi
Shawn P. Roarke | NHL.com Senior Writer Feb 27, 2007, 2:53 PM EST

The Detroit Red Wings emerged as riverboat gamblers Tuesday, willing to take a chance on Todd Bertuzzi, who has been out almost all season with a bad back.

Bertuzzi, a classic power forward, will give the Red Wings some of the grit and sandpaper believed to be missing for the team. He was obtained for a pair of conditional picks. Detroit will send a conditional pick – either a first-, second- or third-round selection – in this year’s draft and a conditional second-round pick in next year’s draft to obtain the services of Bertuzzi, who is just a year removed from being one of the most coveted players in the League.

The picks are conditionally tied to the performance of the Red Wings in the playoffs, as well as Bertuzzi’s playing availability in the postseason.

The 32-year-old Bertuzzi was the centerpiece of this summer’s blockbuster deal that sent franchise goalie Roberto Luongo to Vancouver in exchange for Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen.

But Bertuzzi ran into back troubles in late October, eventually undergoing surgery for a herniated disk on Nov. 2. Bertuzzi had seven points in seven games before getting injured.

Bertuzzi is back to skating and says he is ready to return to the NHL grind, but has not been going 100 percent for the Panthers in practice before Tuesday’s trade. Yet he must have shown enough in his comeback to convince Detroit GM Ken Holland to roll the dice to keep up with all the aggressive teams in the Western Conference.

Bertuzzi, when healthy, is among the most difficult forwards for opposing defensemen to deal with down low. He has 224 goals and 536 points in 717 NHL games and is just three seasons removed from his benchmark 46-goal season with Vancouver.

The addition of Bertuzzi helps further remake Detroit’s attack, which was impacted by Monday night’s acquisition of third-line forward Kyle Calder from Chicago. Most likely, Bertuzzi will play the right side on Detroit’s second line, joining Robert Lang and Mikael Samuelsson.




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I don't care for the move.

I just don't see the Wings competing in the playoffs with the Sharks, Ducks, Predators, Sabres.

They are 3 or 4 Bertuzzi type players away from really contending IMO.

Not to mention that he is an unknown commodity since the injury. I can very easily see this becoming Uwe Krupp version 2.0.

I just think it was a waste of picks for something that is not, nor was going to be, the difference maker.

NHL draft picks are more like MLB draft picks in that they don't typically materialize for 3-5 years, if ever... IMO we gave up little if anything for Bertuzzi, and if he can't play, he can't play... But if he can, we're definitely in the thick of things...

What happened whith Jason Williams? I missed something somewhere... apparently he was traded for some guy on Chicago (whom already scored on Chicago in a Red Wings uni), but I don't know the details...???

Williams was traded for Kyle Calder Monday night.