When the puck drops on the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2024-25 season, Tyler Bertuzzi will have played for his fourth Original Six team. Bertuzzi spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Detroit Red Wings, then spent part of one season with the Boston Bruins before donning the blue-and-white with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 29-year-old is now joining Connor Bedard in the Windy City on a four-year, $22-million contract where his physical brand of hockey, combined with secondary scoring will be welcomed by the rebuilding Blackhawks.
Bertuzzi was one of Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving’s ‘snot’ hires last offseason: he’s a physical skater that can provide some offense when asked to and, more importantly, ensure that no team can target the Leafs’ best scorers without repercussions. During his season with the Leafs, Bertuzzi recorded a career-high 98 hits, eclipsing his previous-best of 76. Of course, this came with being available for more games than ever before in 2023-24, which speaks to his talent and health. Having never previously played in more than 73 games (2018-19), it was a pleasant surprise to have Bertuzzi fit for 80 games as a Maple Leaf.
As someone who absolutely loves his game, I’m sad to see him go but I understand the money just wasn’t there to keep him. Not to mention, Bertuzzi and Max Domi’s playing styles are somewhat redundant on the same roster. With Domi signing a four-year deal to stay in Hogtown, it was a matter of time before Bertuzzi found a different employer.
Recognizable by his unique dental layout, Bertuzzi created 28 rebounds in the 2023-24 season. His previous high was 17, during the 2021-22 season. This is a specialized stat but it shows that, even in a season where scoring was tougher to come by for him, Bertuzzi’s skill allowed him to create chances for his teammates. And it’s a skill that will be heavily relied upon next fall, where he’ll be counted upon to generate easy offense for the Blackhawks.
Bertuzzi’s lone season with the Leafs started off slow, going over a full calendar month without a goal (November 25th in Pittsburgh to December 27th at home against Ottawa). He did have four assists in between, but those were in back-to-back games — three assists coming in a Dec. 16 blowout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The turning of Bertuzzi’s season came after the birth of his son, where he recorded three goals on four shot attempts during a 4-3 Maple Leafs victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Hockey Night in Canada on February 24.
It was the inflection point of his season: Bertuzzi’s 14 goals from February 24-end of regular season in all situations ranked T16th among all NHL players and he elevated his performance from the Avalanche game onwards.
But the Leafs simply didn’t have the money to offer Bertuzzi a contract even close to what the Blackhawks offered him. The 2017 Calder Cup champion will undoubtedly look to feed off arguably his best season, the first one he’d spent north of the border since playing for the Guelph Storm in his OHL days.
In Chicago, Bertuzzi is slotted as their first-line left-wing an opportunity he was seldom afforded in Toronto with the emergence of Matthew Knies as a reliable NHL forward. Bertuzzi will effectively be looking to clean up on rebounds generated by Bedard, while shooting with the aim of his talented linemates picking up goals off second and third attempts.
It will be interesting to see if and how Bertuzzi gets moved around the lineup depending on his production and the eventual return of left wing Taylor Hall from injury. Chicago’s top line looks a lot better than it did last year, with the ex-Leaf and Teuvo Teravainen (free agent signing from Carolina) flanking Bedard. If Bertuzzi can lock into the form he found after the birth of his son in February, with the primary goal of crashing the net and generating net-front offense, the Blackhawks will likely be happy with their investment.
All stats from MoneyPuck and Natural Stat Trick
