Bertuzzi Skates With Boston Bruins, Will Play vs. Rangers

BRIGHTON, MA – The Boston Bruins welcomed another new face to the fold on Friday as newly acquired winger Tyler Bertuzzi was on the ice for practice at Warrior Ice Arena and is expected to be in the lineup on Saturday against the New York Rangers.

Bertuzzi will slide into a third line role ostensibly replacing the injured Taylor Hall in the lineup and skating with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic, and wearing No. 59 for the Original Six franchise. The Bruins are excited about Bertuzzi because he’s a gritty, physical player that also scored 30 goals for the Red Wings last season, and because will be another player making the B’s more difficult to play against.

“I think he’s an excellent hockey player someone at understands how to win,” said Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, who said he gave Don Sweeney a hearty fist pound when he heard about the trade. “He’s a great complementary winger, he goes hard to hard areas, he’s a great net front guy, 5-on-5, power play, he’s got a lot of sandpaper to him as Bruins fans will know from his altercation with our other sandpaper guy, Marchy.”

Needless to say, he was pretty pumped to be joining the Bruins after toiling a long time for a Red Wings franchise that has been in a constant state of rebuilding for most of the last 10 years.

“I had an idea it was coming but I didn’t know when or where, and I’m very happy that it was here,” said Bertuzzi. “I’m excited. Grateful for the opportunity. I just go out there and play hockey. I play hard and I think this team fits my game.

“Obviously it’s a special group here and I met most of the players today and the coaches. It will take me a little bit to get used to everything, but I’m just excited to get going and get playing.”

Bertuzzi said he knows Nick Foligno from back home in Sudbury, Ontario and that he played with Tomas Nosek in the AHL, so there is some familiarity with some of the players. There’s also plenty of past history from previous battles where guys like Tyler Bertuzzi and Brad Marchand have had their share of battles prior to him arriving in Boston.

Tyler Bertuzzi proved he could be a Bruin back in 2018 when he started an actual brawl pic.twitter.com/Rf151dyKdY

— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) March 2, 2023

The bottom line, though, is that Bertuzzi is being brought in mostly because injuries befell Taylor Hall and Foligno, and the salary cap most likely won’t come into play for Bertuzzi because both players are expected to miss the rest of the regular season.

“It’s a really tough loss, both of them…they’re both key guys that have really helped us have the season we’ve had so far and hopefully the two of them can get healthy soon, but it’s not looking good,” said Montgomery. “So that’s why we needed to go out and add another player that can come in and help us win hockey games right now.”