Bertuzzi heads to Detroit
Wow. What a day! I left home for Chicago around 12:30pm Eastern time and listed to Home Ice (XM Radio 204) all the way to Chicago until about 4:30pm. I thought they did a good job with coverage, although I definitely enjoyed watching the TSN stream online before I left. I thoroughly enjoyed the Wings-Blackhawks game and I’m in love with the United Center, but I’ll talk about that tomorrow when I get back home. Pictures of the Wings and Blackhawks warmups will hopefully be up no later than Thursday evening as it just depends when my dad gets me the photos.
Back to the trade deadline talk. When I heard about the Ryan Smyth trade to the NY Islanders, my jaw literally dropped. I could not believe the Oilers traded away Smyth on Mark Messier day AND that they snuck it in right before the deadline. Wow. I would not be a happy camper if I was an Oilers’ fan.
Todd Bertuzzi to Detroit
I am very happy with Kenny’s work this deadline. We got Bertuzzi and gave up Shawn Mathias and two draft picks IF we re-sign Bertuzzi and/or do really well in the playoffs. Assuming Bertuzzi is healthy by playoff time and produces like he’s always done, it’ll be well worth it. I’m just happy that we didn’t have to give away a roster player (although I would’ve happily given up Lilja) or a top prospect. Plus, the draft picks will only come if we get something good out of this deal so if we lose in the first or second round in the playoffs and/or we can’t resign Bertuzzi, we only lose Matthias. I could handle that. If we had gotten Guerin, Smyth, or Tkachuk, we could have very well not done well in the playoffs AND lost them in the offseason due to free agency AND lost a prospect/roster player/draft pick. With this deal, we’re only guaranteed to lose Matthias and a third round draft pick. I like it.
Ansar Khan at MLive.com has the details about those conditional picks:
Florida will get either a first-, a second- or a third-round pick in 2007 based on Bertuzzi’s performance and the success of the team. If the Wings reach the conference finals, Bertuzzi plays in two-thirds of their playoff games and is among their top five playoff scorers, the Panthers get a first-rounder. If Bertuzzi isn’t among their top five in scoring, Florida still gets a first-rounder if the Wings reach the Stanley Cup finals and Bertuzzi plays in two-thirds of the playoff games. If they reach the conference finals and Bertuzzi hasn’t played in two-thirds of the playoff games, the Panthers get a second-rounder. In any other scenario, the Panthers get a third-round pick, which is the minimum.
Florida will also get a second-round pick in 2008 if Bertuzzi, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, re-signs with Detroit.
Personally, I think Bertuzzi is going to be ready by the start of the playoffs and hopefully he’ll see some game time before the playoffs start. He’s not 100% yet and since the Wings are going to be in the playoffs, we can afford to let Bertuzzi heal instead of rushing back to help us keep a playoff start.
The only photo I have of Bertuzzi that I’ve taken from 1/26/06.
“Bertuzzi is a huge, talented man that adds the dimensions of size and skill that we need on one of our top two lines,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock told The Associated Press. “We’ll give up a first-round pick if there are a lot of conditions met, such as us winning a lot in the playoffs and him helping us do that. We’d be happy to give up that pick.”
…
“Our focus all along was to be a harder team to play against, and both Bertuzzi and Calder will help us do that,” Babcock said. “There are no guarantees, but the front office led by Kenny Holland and Jim Nill has given us a better opportunity to be successful.”
I will post more Bertuzzi trade reactions when I get home tomorrow afternoon, but until then here is trade wizard, Spector, and his thoughts on this trade:
The Red Wings are taking a considerable gamble on this. If healthy, Bertuzzi would be a strong physical addition to the Wings offensive lines, but the possibility exists that he could reinjure his back again, which could sideline him during the playoffs.
GM Ken Holland has been looking for a replacement for Brendan Shanahan all season, and if Bertuzzi can return healthy for the remaining regular season games and the playoffs, he could possibly become the missing piece of the offensive puzzle for the Wings.
And Holland certainly seems pleased with his trade…
“Todd is a unique player,” Holland said of his 6-foot-3, 242-pound acquisition who has 224 goals and added 312 assists in 717 NHL games. “He has size and skill, and scoring and playmaking ability.
“We’re well aware of his injury. This morning, as we worked on the trade, Randy Sexton, the Florida assistant GM, and I got our doctors together to discuss his injury. We have a comfort level that Todd is a few weeks away. By the end of March, he should be in our lineup and contributing to our team. We’re very excited to add Todd and looking forward eventually to getting him in a Red Wings uniform.”
Bertuzzi feels fortunate that the Wings were willing to take a chance on him, back problems and all.
“Who wouldn’t want to come there, with the great history, Steve Yzerman and the rest of the cast. I had many good times playing against Detroit. I’ve always enjoyed coming into Joe Louis Arena. I hope I’m well received.”
Bertuzzi said he hopes to get in as many regular-season games as possible before the playoffs, which he called “a whole new level.” He said he will continue to play “the only way I know how. I don’t play cautious and won’t play that way. I’m coming to Detroit for a reason: To help them out in the playoffs and I hope to be 100 percent.”
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“I love (Detroit’s) high-tempo style of play,” he continued. “I’m more suited to that. Detroit’s got guys on the back end who can make those outlet and breakaway passes. It’s going to be exciting taking those passes from Nick and Matty and Chris.”
Thoughts on Calder
I was really impressed with Kyle Calder in tonight’s game against the Wings. He scored the first goal of the game on his first shift with the Wings organization. He also notched an assist later in the game. From my vantage point, he seemed to fight for those loose pucks and along the corners so I thought he was an improvement over Jason Williams in that department. My dad took photos of Calder during warmups and Williams before the 3rd period so I’ll have those up as soon as possible. It was definitely weird seeing Williams in a different uniform. I’ll post my post-game reaction sometime tomorrow when I get back home from Chicago (I’m typing this in my hotel room right now).
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4 Responses to “Bertuzzi heads to Detroit”
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February 28th, 2007 at 10:46 am
If Bertuzzi is healthy, I think he could definitely be a helpful asset. Vancouver needed to get rid of him for both of their sakes but he still had about 70 something points in his last season with them so he can still be a factor.
February 28th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Mr. Bertuzzi is very fortunate that Mr. Holland and the other
echelon feel he’s a good fit for the Wings. Personally, I don’t
feel he qualifies to wear the Red Wing jersey…he’s claiming
‘that was 3 years ago’ (the Moore sucker-punch) - if he did
that on the streets of his town, he’d be up for some stiff
punishment. He’s a thug and isn’t the caliber of the players
on the team of the Red Wings.
This grandma is disappointed that he will represent the Wings.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:59 am
Sherry- Thanks for your opinion! He definitely won’t be like he once was in 2001-2002, but hopefully he’ll get healthy and make a difference in our lineup. We don’t need him to get an offensive point every game, but to have a big physical presence and to have someone who can score is fantastic.
Lorraine- Thanks for your comment. I certainly agree that what Bertuzzi did with Moore was awful and definitely gave the sport a black eye. I’m sure he’d take that moment back in a heartbeat if he could. I think that he has paid for his crime (not including the civil lawsuit) and he deserves a chance. But like you said, we don’t have any players who have done that, but most teams don’t.
January 1st, 2008 at 4:21 am
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