Update (8:35 PM): TSN has updated the article and it now says Bertuzzi will get $8 million over two years. Given that $4 million a year was s more than the Wings could offer him, it’s no surprise he left. I guess he wasn’t all that serious about wanting a longer-term contract. - Matt
Two-years, terms not disclosed. That’s another Wing packing his bags to fly to Anaheim. Screw you, Brian Burke. And Todd? You’re evil again.
Archive for the 'Todd Bertuzzi' Category
Ansar Khan has an update on the status of the Wings’ free agent situation.
In summary:
… Hasek should sign within a day or two, having told the Wings he’d rather wait until after the first day of free agency to make a deal
… Todd Bertuzzi is shopping himself around the market, looking for a longer-term deal than the Wings are willing to give him. So, his return may not be all that likely. The Wings are looking for a “second-tier free-agent forward,” to, I assume, replace Bertuzzi in the event he doesn’t re-sign.
… The Wings are looking to spend their remaining $8 million on “Hasek, a forward, and a depth defenseman.” Quite frankly, I don’t really understand the need for a depth defenseman when the team’s blueline corps now stands at Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, Andreas Lilja, Chris Chelios, Brett Lebda, and, likely, Derek Meech. Seems pretty solid to me.
… Danny Markov turned down the Wings’ last offer, so he’s looking less and less likely to re-sign. Not much of a surprise there.
… The Wings apparently didn’t offer Schneider the kind of money they offered Rafalski (as in up to $2 million less per year). So, it seems that all along they were more intent on pursuing the younger Rafalski than on keeping the older Schneider. That’s surprising, given how re-signing #23 was listed as a priority all along.
Bruce MacLeod has a post not calculated to raise the hopes of Wings fans here. For a slightly more measured take on the situation (particularly the part about negotiations between the Wings and Hasek), see this CP report. With Hasek no longer a sure thing, Schneider on the verge of finding out his market value, and Todd Bertuzzi wanting job security the Wings aren’t willing to give him, it looks like Danny Markov could end up being the most likely to return, after everyone wrote him off.
The Wings would be okay if they couldn’t reach a deal with Hasek. The alternatives on the market aren’t that appealing, but Chris Osgood is more than capable of backstopping the Wings to the Conference Finals, especially if they bring a similarly solid defense to the table. If pressed, they could sign one of the UFA goalies and try a rotation. Not an ideal situation, but a workable one.
But the defense is the big question: what will it look like? It could be significantly different. The thought of Mathieu Schneider bolting began growing in the back of my mind and it now seems to be the most likely outcome. He has his critics in Detroit and around the League, but Schneider’s value to the Wings is widely underappreciated, as anyone who watched the team’s last playoff run can tell you. Losing him to free agency wouldn’t be quite like losing Nick Lidstrom, but the impact would be huge. I don’t think Andreas Lilja and Brett Lebda are capable of together stepping into Schneider’s shoes. The Wings can bring back Danny Markov and count on Niklas Kronwall being healthy, but they’ll still miss Schneider’s outlet pass, his booming shot, and his underrated ability on the power play, not to mention his defensive capabilities. There’s a reason people referred to Lidstrom and Schneider as the Wings’ 1A and 1B defensemen. There is no immediate replacement for #23, if he should decide to take the money and run.
As for Bertuzzi, I would be more disappointed than upset were the Wings unable to reach a deal. I want to see what he can do with a full season under his belt, but it wouldn’t be a great loss if he didn’t re-sign. It would certainly open up some space for another acquisition by Holland, perhaps Slava Kozlov or even Ryan Smyth. Even if the Wings don’t sign a forward, whether Bertuzzi or someone else, I think they’re in pretty good shape up front anyway. They’ve got a good youth corps looking to step it up and begging for the ice time to do it, so maybe it’s right to give it to them.
So, the outlook may seem a bit bleak, but that’s just because nothing has happened yet. I still think Hasek will sign, so the Osgood haters probably won’t have to worry about watching him play more than 30 games. Schneider could very well re-sign and for a reasonable price, and the Wings are likely to sign Bertuzzi and/or another UFA. Those three points would ensure that last year’s team largely stays the same and would offer the best hope of a return to the Conference Finals. 3-out-of-3 may not be too likely, but 1- or 2-out-of-3 wouldn’t be too bad. And really, even the worst-case scenario (Hasek, Schneider, Bertuzzi gone; no UFAs) wouldn’t be awful, because of the team’s youth depth. It’d just make repeating last year’s success that much tougher for the team and stressful for the fans.
The fun days of refreshing TSN and hoping to see news of Wings UFAs’ re-signing, rather than news of their departures, begin tomorrow. Woo hoo.
Apparently, Ken Holland has hit a bit of a roadblock with Dominik Hasek, Todd Bertuzzi, Mathieu Schneider, and Danny Markov. It seems they all want the kind of money other teams around the league have been throwing at players of similar talents (Anaheim, Philadelphia). Ansar Khan says Dom is still a lock, though his demands have taken the Wings aback, but as for the others, he quotes Ken Holland as saying, “It appears one or two are not going to be in Detroit.”
That sucks, but I guess it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. I’d hoped everyone would put winning ahead of money and keep together a team that could be right back where it was this past season. Idealistic, I know.
If only two of the four will be back, let’s hope it’s Hasek and Schneider.
Update (7:20 PM): I just remembered that a Franzen-Filppula-Bertuzzi line was tried in Game 3 of the first round. It was Todd Bertuzzi’s return from a concussion, and it was classified as the fourth line at the time, so I wonder now if the media wasn’t off base when they called it a second unit (and the positioning of Lang between Hudler and Samuelsson a demotion). It does sound like Fil’s been promoted, since he and Lang basically swapped wingers, but that could be a misreading of the situation. I guess we won’t know until we see where and how much he plays tomorrow.
As I recall now, that particular Filppula-centered line was not all that successful as there didn’t seem to be much chemistry. If they try it again, at least they’d have had some more practices in which to develop some, though, so that’s something. - Matt
Update (3:35 PM): Well, it looks like we were wrong to doubt the Wings’ word: Ted Kulfan and Bruce MacLeod both report visual and audible confirmation on at least the tail-end of Henrik Zetterberg’s flu.
So, does that mean his back is okay and that it had nothing to do with his sitting out of practice? Perhaps not, since the fact that they were telling the truth about the flu doesn’t mean they didn’t “forget” to mention other reasons, in spite of what Babcock said according to MacLeod. Still, maybe it’s a little melodramatic of me to be reminded of The Captain’s habit of skipping practice is 2002. His back may very well actually be okay. - Matt
… Helene St. James reports that Henrik Zetterberg still has the “flu,” as he did not practice. The party line there seems even more laughable now that Hank has played in a game and looked good doing it. So, he can play games, but not practice? Am I the only one thinking of the situation with Steve Yzerman in 2002 here?
… St. James also notes that Robert Lang skated with Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson today, while Valtteri Filppula centered Johan Franzen and Todd Bertuzzi. If you’re keeping score at home, that would be a demotion for Lang and I say it’s about time, though I feel bad for Hudler and Samuelsson. Of course, Babcock told the media not to read too much into these lines, but, like St. James writes, “let’s do it anyways,” especially since it was a bona fide line for a stretch of play last night, according to John Niyo. I think a Filppula-centered second line would be great.
… An update on Brett Lebda and Tomas Holmstrom will not be in the lineup for Game 2, according to Bruce MacLeod. Ansar Khan writes that Tomas Holmstrom skated by himself with a helmet, but Brett Lebda did nothing, as his ankle is still bothering him and until it heals, he won’t be able to play his game. So, inactivity is best for him.
… Khan relates an interesting anecdote relating to Holmstrom: apparently, the team was surprised by the comments he made in a Swedish newspaper that indicated his return would come in Game 4 at the earliest. According to Khan, Homer was even more surprised than the organization when he found out they’d seen his comments. Khan quotes someone from the front office:
“Hasn’t he ever heard of the Internet?”
Ha. How ironic it is that someone from the Detroit Red Wings organization would ask a question like that. This is the same team that daily ignores the rising importance of the internet community (unless you shell out the $$$ for an account on Red Wings World) and remains stuck in old-fashioned ideas about media (bloggers do not exist). When will they get it like say, the Caps, have gotten it?
Thank you for validating everything I’ve been thinking for this entire series. Khan has a great little piece on his blog today (of which I am not the only fan) highlighting the Wings’ struggles against the Flames and providing a number of helpful suggestions. Let’s just hope he sent Mike Babcock a copy.
Suggestion #1:
He should insert Jiri Hudler back in the lineup. Hudler played with a lot of energy in the first two games.
Jiri played so well in the first two games, only to be dropped with the return of Todd Bertuzzi. Now Bert has earned his keep, but there’s no reason Hudler shouldn’t be out there in place of one of our underachievers. I’ve been hoping Huds would get the call over Samuelsson.
Suggestion#2:
Or he might take out Samuelsson, who has just one assist in 10 playoff games the last two years. If he leaves Samuelsson in, he should at least stop playing him on the point on the power play. It isn’t working. Brett Lebda would be a better option.
Every time I bring up the idea of scratching Samuelsson, somebody says “Oh, but he’s playing the point on the power play.” Here we go again. Babcock is a great coach, but what is his obsession with putting forwards on the PP point?! Now, Samuelsson is no Jason Williams - he’s not a total liability there. But he’s not producing either. It just is not working. Oh, and if I had a dollar for every time I’ve told somebody that Lebs would be a better choice than Sammy for the PP point in the last two weeks, I’d be watching the next game from The Joe instead of my living room. Brett is a great skater and he’s got tons of offensive ability. He’s practically a forward anyway with the way he’s always wheeling around in the offensive zone. Babs should be all over this.
Another thing that I’ve had a hard time understanding is the fact that, despite being one of our hardest working players, Filppula can not manage to get decent ice time - instead it continues to go to guys who are simply wasting it. The thing that really gets me is that Babs admits that he should be playing him more.
“He probably wonders why the coach doesn’t get him on the ice more and the coach wonders that himself,” said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. “My son told me after Game 1 that I didn’t play Fil enough.” (via USA Today)
Even his kids know it! Is Babcock aware of the fact that he’s the coach and he’s actually allowed to make these changes himself? If he thinks he deserves more time, why doesn’t he give it to him?
Suggestion #3:
Valtteri Filppula needs to play more. I’d also try to find a way to work him in on the struggling power play.
Power play time? Now there’s an idea. That would give Fil more playing time AND change up our miserable power play. No, I think that would make too much sense…
Despite Babcock’s stubbornness regarding lines, he has done more this year than last and for that I am most greatful.
Coach Mike Babcock’s reluctance to change his lineup or even his line combinations proved costly in last year’s first-round loss to Edmonton. He made a good move by replacing Kyle Calder and Mikael Samuelsson on the second line with Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen.
Darn right, Ansar. I just want to know what took him so long. I think everybody and their brother knew that Todd needed to be on that second line with Lang the day he returned to the ice. Sometimes I think Babcock is just a little too reluctant to make changes. It scares me. When you’re afraid to make changes, then sometimes you don’t do it until it’s too late. Hopefully that won’t be the case in this series.
Oh, and for anyone who didn’t think Babcock was completely insane for putting Lang out for the last faceoff of game 3 (I’m sure there is no such person, but you never know):
Robert Lang has won only 17 of 54 face-offs.
For those of you without calculators, that’s about a 31% win percentage. That means he loses them 69% of the time! I bet every time the opposing center sees that he’s facing off against Lang, he throws a little party in his head. “Freebie faceoff win! Coach will think I’m good at those! Yay!”
Suggestion #4:
Maybe Franzen should start taking the draws for that line. It couldn’t be much worse.
Sure it could, Lang has actually made an improvement from his game 1 faceoff win percentage - a whopping 20%.
Basically, I think Babs has made some unfortunate decisions up to this point. Maybe he’s overcomplicating things. To put it simply, the players who are playing the best should be playing the most. Makes sense to me. If someone’s not cutting it, they should be replaced, whether it be on the PP, in the faceoff circle, or on the lineup completely.
Update (8:01 PM): Ansar Khan has more. He says it’ll be a gamen time decision, depending on how Todd feels tomorrow. Bertuzzi is maintaining a humble attitude about it all, at least to the press, saying he understands that it’s about the team and that the concerns over disrupting a winning lineup are valid. However, Babcock told Khan,
“We didn’t acquire him not to play him. He’s a big body, he plays the game hard. But, you got to fit in like the team’s doing and you got to play hard within that system. If he’s ready to go, he’s in.”
“If he’s ready” refers both to Bertuzzi’s health and his motivation, I assume, given the, “you got to play hard within that system,” comment. So, the Wings are concerned about disrupting the roster too, but not so much that they won’t utilize him at the expense of the player they deem to be least valuble to the overall team effort. The problem is determing who that player is. The Wings’ depth is scary, eh? - Matt
Helene St. James has the latest. Basically, there’s nothing new. He feels fine, but his status for Game 3 is still unknown and that won’t change until after practice tomorrow. Either Babcock is having a hard time settling on an answer to the “Who sits?” question (Samuelsson, not Hudler, please), or Todd isn’t impressing in practice.
Update (2:20 PM): Ansar Khan has more, including a couple quotes from Bertuzzi. He’s hoping to return for Game 3. - Matt
Update (12:53 PM): Helene St. James has posted her report from practice and she says Bertuzzi will not play in Game 2. Apparently, Todd feels fine, but the team is being extra cautious just in case.
Well. That’s disappointing, but hopefully it’ll mean he’ll have extra jump Tuesday night, if he plays then. The positive part of this is that Babcock won’t yet have to disrupt the lineup that won Game 1. Given how well everyone played, scratching someone would have been a heck of a bad reward, especially if it would have been one of the Young Guns. - Matt
In what reads like a live dispatch from practice, Bruce MacLeod reports that,
“Todd Bertuzzi is on the ice for Saturday’s full practice. He’s skating with Josh Langfeld and Tomas Kopecky.”
If you’re keeping score at home, Langfeld and Kopecky are the Wings’ two reserve players. MacLeod goes on to say that Mikael Samuelsson, Kyle Calder, and Robert Lang - the second line in Game 1 - were still together today.
So, basically, it doesn’t sound like the Wings are counting on Todd to play tomorrow. It’s still a possibility, of course, but by using those lines, they seem to be assuming he won’t. That’s not good news, especially if the Flames are going to get Robyn Regehr back. But that doesn’t sound like a certainty, either.
Update (3:45 PM): Ansar Khan has a little more detail, saying that Bertuzzi has only been cleared “medically,” and including a quote from Babcock that says he has to be cleared by the team therapists as well. Again, it all depends on how he feels after tomorrow, when the team will go through a full practice.
Khan addresses the question of who will sit when Todd plays and thinks the options are Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson. I’d hate to see Jiri scratched given all he brings to the team, and Sammy is valuble on the power play for his shot. That’s definitely a tough one.
Also, if you’re wondering about Robyn Regehr and Jeff Friesen, their statuses won’t be known until after Calgary’s practice tomorrow. - Matt
Update (1:55 PM): Helene St. James made good on her promise and has posted an update on Todd’s status:
“Todd Bertuzzi has been cleared to play and may join the Red Wings on Sunday for Game 2 of their first-round series against Calgary.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean he will play, as today’s was his first practice in a week and he could probably use another one or two in order to get back up to speed. Still, it seems it’s more dependant on how he feels tomorrow than on whether or not he gets a couple good practices under his belt. - Matt
Helene St. James reports that Todd Bertuzzi (concussion) practiced today, with a visor. She notes that it was an optional practice, so this doesn’t necessarily mean he’d ready to go for Game 2. She promises updates as they come.
Update (2:50 PM): Ansar Khan confirms that Todd Bertuzzi is not going to play Game 1, providing this quote from Mike Babcock: “I don’t think he has any chance to play (Thursday). He’s day-to-day. We think he’ll have an opportunity to play on Sunday.” Well. That’s a little depressing. - Matt
According to Bruce McLeod, Todd Bertuzzi (concussion) did not practice today. So, unless the Wings are okay with inserting him after nearly a week of inactivity, his chances of playing tomorrow night are rather slim, as IwoCPO has already pointed out.
