Detroit Red Wings: Spreading some Holiday Cheer
By Bob Heyrman
Tyler Bertuzzi serves as a perfect third line grinding forward who can score. The young forward plays most nights as an agitator and has become the thorn in the side of most of the Detroit Red Wings opponents.
Bert loves to mix it up after the whistle and is often found working down low and in the corners or possibly in front of the net during play. Bertuzzi doesn’t exactly strike the viewer as a gifted skater or anything, but he can skate well enough to get the job done.
Lately, he’s been playing with Glendening and Rasmussen on the Detroit Red Wings third line. The line was most effective though with Abdelkader and Bert flanking Glenny. Tonight in the return from the holiday break head coach Jeff Blashill has Bert on the second line with Nielsen and Vanek.
The Detroit Red Wings are looking for a more balanced offensive attack; it seems Blashill is looking to stretch out some scorers throughout his line-up rather than jamming them all at the top leaving minor league talent as the entire bottom two lines.
Tyler Bertuzzi notched 3 assists over his last 5 games heading into the break. Bert has 9 goals and 11 assists over his first 36 games. That is not bad at all for a third line winger.
I would like to see Bertuzzi up on the top line with Larkin and Nyquist over Abdelkader. I think he could do a similar job working on the boards and causing havoc in front of the net plus bring more of a scoring upside to the top line. I think Bert is a better offensive option right now and Abby would be better suited playing with Glendening on the third line.
We are thrilled with the production, the physicality and drive that Bertuzzi has provided. He is only 23 years old and has the potential to produce a 25/25 statistical season on a regular basis in the future. He is skating as a plus 2 this season.