TSN calls it official: Bertuzzi’s back, pending physical

Posted by on . 11 comments

Update (1:19 PM): TSN got on the ball and updated the article. - Matt

The homepage blurb for this article on TSN now says:

The Detroit Red Wings added some size and veteran presence up front by agreeing on a one-year contract with former Wing Todd Bertuzzi. The veteran forward needs to pass a standard physical to make the deal official.

And Darren Dreger confirms on Twitter.

The article linked at the end of that blurb has yet to be updated with that reporting, but it looks like Todd’s a Red Wing again, unless he fails his physical (if only). If it’s at that $1.5 million price tag reported earlier, the Wings are grossly overpaying him.

Ugh. Gotta wonder how guys like Darren Helm and Ville Leino feel today. I mean, no free rides in Detroit, but this is a slap in the face to the kids. At least one of them is likely to be on some kind of rotation. They won’t be paying Todd or Jason $1.5 million or whatever to sit in the luxury box too often.

Baseless line projection fun:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Cleary-Filppula-Franzen
Bertuzzi-Williams-Eaves
Maltby-Draper-Helm/Leino

It’s going to be interesting to see how this all works out. I have to say the last two signings don’t give me a great feeling, but that will probably go away September 13th when hockey starts up again and can start washing away the bad taste of this off-season.

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Comments

  1. Alzy says:
    August 18, 2009 at 9:41 am

    Helm is going to be the third line centre Matt. With his performance in the playoffs, there's no way he's getting fourth line minutes from Uncle Mike. Plus, he's a much, much more effective centre versus Williams, and would allow Williams to stay on the wing where he's better.

    If anyone's on the bubble because of this, I think it's Eaves. He'll be making the second lowest amount on the team, and like you said I really can't see the Wings paying someone $1.5 million to sit in the pressbox the majority of the time.

    Reply
  2. Matt Saler says:
    August 18, 2009 at 9:53 am

    Alzy,

    You're probably right; I let my negativity about the move cloud my judgement. In that case, it'll be Leino who gets the shaft of having to share roster time with Eaves, or whoever's in the dog house in a given week.

    Reply
  3. Ryan says:
    August 18, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    I imagine Maltby will be the 13th forward for most of the year, not Helm or Leino.  Helm will probably ride the 3C spot whenever Zetterberg and Datsyuk play together.  Cleary, Holmstrom, Williams, Bertuzzi, and Leino will probably spend a lot of time shuffling between lines, and Eaves will probably be a fixture on the fourth line.  I'm just guessing too, of course.

     

    With Filppula so clearly ready for 2C duty and Helm clearly ready as a 3C, it'll be hard for Babcock to split up Zetterberg and Datsyuk, but it's a pretty safe bet that he'll try.  I can't imagine Datsyuk playing anywhere but the middle, but I almost wonder if he'll experiment with putting Zetterberg on Filppula's wing.  Would be interesting to watch, but I think it's more likely Helm would get pushed to the wing or the fourth line.

     

    The PP units might get interesting, too.  If you leave Z-D-H as the standard first unit, you wind up with Franzen, Filppula, and Bertuzzi/Cleary/Leino as a second unit that doesn't really have a Hossa- or Zetterberg-type shooter.  That's probably still an above-average second unit, but as we saw last year, if you can run two really good units, there are a lot of goals you can wring out of the power play.  The only other option I see is to put Zetterberg and Franzen together as one unit and Datsyuk with Holmstrom as the other, alternating Filppula/Bertuzzi/Cleary/Leino as the third guy on those lines.  That's only likely to last if Babcock settles on keeping Zetterberg and Datsyuk on separate lines at ES, though, and I don't think that'll happen in the long term.

    Reply
  4. Megan Saler says:
    August 18, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    Ryan,

    I agree with you about Maltby. At this point, Babs really has to go with at least potential, and Bertuzzi, Leino, Eaves, etc. have more potential for scoring than Maltby does.

     

    I disagree a little about Helm. I think he'll be a fixture on the third line, and that he will play center pretty much all the time. He's too good at faceoffs to move him to the wing. I also think he'll play some valuable minutes on the second PK unit.

    Reply
  5. Garth says:
    August 18, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    A couple things:

     

    Helm's centre. the third line centre to be exact.  I'd bet money on that, and I don't bet money on anything, and there's nothing anyone but Mike Babcock can say that will ever make me think anything different.  Also, in all of his torn up napkins, I don't see a single scenario in which Babcock EVER considers making Bertuzzi-Eaves-Williams a line.  Besides the fact that none of them is a centreman (in fact, all three are right wingers), but I don't see how or why he would consider putting all three off-season acquisitions on the same line.  They're going to want them all playing with guys who know the system, they're not going to put three guys who are relatively, and to different extents, unfamiliar with the systerm on a line together.

     

    My guess is that Bert will split time between the top three lines, depending on the health of Homstrom, with Williams and Eaves probably moving between the third line, fourth line and the press box (along with Maltby).

     

    "The PP units might get interesting, too.  If you leave Z-D-H as the standard first unit, you wind up with Franzen, Filppula, and Bertuzzi/Cleary/Leino as a second unit that doesn’t really have a Hossa- or Zetterberg-type shooter."

    I wouldn't count out Franzen as the shooter on the second PP unit.  Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if Babcock split up Z and Dats on the PP.

    Reply
  6. Garth says:
    August 18, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    I also don't buy the "Bert and Williams make too much to sit" argument.  I would agree that Z, Dats, Franzen and Cleary make too much to sit, but give me a break, it's $1.5M.  That's fourth line money.  If they don't produce, they'll sit.

    That said, I would expect Maltby and Eaves to play the least amount, unless Williams or someone makes it into Babcock's doghouse.

    Reply
  7. Chris says:
    August 18, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    It isn't too far out to consider Homer's days on the first line to be over as well. He's not a 30 goal scorer anymore, and this last season seemed to really tear into him physically. I have no doubt he'll be used on the powerplay, but I don't think it's certain he'll be on the first line (all too regularly, at least). However, with his defensive short comings, a Homer-Helm-Cleary line may be the only legimate alternative to him playing with either Z or Pav on the first 2 lines.

    Reply
  8. Keith says:
    August 18, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    No way Leino or Eaves is the 13th forward. I love Maltby but he shoulda retired 2 years ago.

    Reply
  9. Matt Saler says:
    August 19, 2009 at 5:33 am

    Ryan,

    Good analysis. You may be right about Maltby since, as Megan says, he's not exactly full of potential at this point in his career. I just wouldn't be surprised if Leino, until more proven at the NHL level, is the guy sitting when Malts is in.

    Garth,

    I agree it's likely Helm will land at the third line center spot, but let's not act like it's a guarantee. He still has to earn that spot, and if he doesn't come at it with the same work ethic he's shown the past two post-seasons, he won't get it. It sounds nice to say he earned it over those stints, but this is still Detroit and they don't just hand out spots to kids. I expect him take it in camp and the pre-season, but it's not a guarantee.

    You're right about putting the three new guys together–not very well thought-through on my part. But Williams can play center, so we might see him there this year.

    If we're talking three-way rotations, I see Bertuzzi as more likely on it than Eaves. Williams is already having attitude problems and I can't see Bertuzzi having much of an impact. Eaves, on the other hand, has a lot to prove and unless he totally fails at that, shouldn't find himself the odd man out.

    That paragraph is probably wishful thinking, however, not likely reality. I stand by my statement on their salary. Sure, they're not making big bucks, but they're being paid in the $1.5 million range in order to have a regular bottom-six role on this team, not to sit in the box, however much I'd like it if they were up there more often than not.

    Chris,

    One thing Homer has going for him is the chemistry he has with the Eurotwins. Even though he's definitely slowing down (in terms of scoring and actual speed), he still works well with them. Lower in the lineup, he's not all that effective. He may have to stay up there with at least one of the Twins or he'll be pretty quiet.

    Keith,

    I'd like to think that about Leino, but he's not fully proven at this level yet. He looks like he'll be okay, but it remains to be seen how he'll respond to longer NHL minutes. If he's showing he's not quite redy to handle it, he won't be in all 82 games even if healthy.

    Reply
  10. Puckhead100 says:
    August 19, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    Bertuzzi will be a great addition, especially at a $1.5 million price tag. Kopecky got $1.2 in Chicago, Samuelson got $2.5 in Vancouver, Hudler would get $2.5 if he stayed in Detroit and they'd be in a ton of cap trouble. Everyone says he is a liability and his best days are behind him. Ken Holland doesn't think so, and I have a hard time thinking that he doesn't know what he's talking about. I say Bert puts up 50+ points as a Red Wing and stays healthy, face it, he's due.

    Reply
  11. Garth says:
    August 20, 2009 at 6:21 am

    "But Williams can play center, so we might see him there this year."

    They didn't pick him up to be a centre though. They already have 5 centres who will be on the roster, one of whom will be playing the wing, so to put Williams at centre instead of his natural wing position and end up with 2 of 5 natural centres playing a wing just doesn't make sense to me.. It's probably a good bet that Datsyuk and Z will be on the first line, that Flip will be centring the second and that Draper will be centring the fourth. That means to me that the third line centre is Helm's to lose. Not saying there's no way he doesn't lose it, but I would think he'd have to have a pretty bad camp to lose it (or that Flip would have to have a disappointing camp to be bumped down to the third line centre.

    You make a pretty good point about Homer though.

    But I don't see any problems with Leino. I can't imagine he's going to have a lot of pressure on him. I would expect his production to be somewhere between what he did in the regular season and what he did in the playoffs.

    And Puckhead, I hadn't thought about it before, but you bring up Kopecky's contract and I definitely think that Bertuzzi for $1.5M is a better signing than Kopecky for $1.2M.

    Reply

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