DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today assigned left wings Tyler Bertuzzi to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
Bertuzzi made his NHL debut in Detroit’s 4-3 shootout win on Nov. 8 at Philadelphia and appeared in three games with the team, logging five hits and two shots on goal in 9:57 average time on ice. The 21-year-old has skated in nine games for the Griffins this season and picked up four points (2-2-4), a plus-three rating, six penalty minutes and 28 shots on goal. Bertuzzi has totaled 71 games for Grand Rapids since turning professional at the end of the 2014-15 campaign, recording 35 points (15-20-35) in 82-regular season games and adding 20 points (14-6-20) in 23 AHL postseason games.
Originally drafted by Detroit in the second round (58th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the 6-foot-1, 198-lb., forward spent four seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm prior to joining the Griffins. In 201 OHL games from 2011-15, Bertuzzi registered 172 points (72-100-172) and 325 penalty minutes. The Sudbury, Ontario, native was a 2014 OHL champion with the Storm and totaled 27 points (16-11-27) in 38 playoff games. Bertuzzi was also named to the 2015 OHL Second All-Star Team following a career-high 98 points (43-55-98) in 68 games in his final season of junior hockey.
With Bertuzzi apparently not being able to beat out Steve Ott and Drew Miller for a place on the Red Wings, returning him to Grand Rapids right now means that he’ll be able to play for the Griffins tomorrow against the Texas Stars. It’s not a guarantee that this won’t end up being a yo-yo recall, since the Wings have a pretty light week ahead of them. If they know he’s not going to play Tuesday’s game against Tampa, then it doesn’t do him any good to sit in the Otthouse when he could be getting ready to play a game on Wednesday.
