Report: Red Wings Open For Business and Tyler Bertuzzi Is Available

With the trade deadline less than a week away, trade talks around the NHL have ramped up, including with the Detroit Red Wings. On Tuesday, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported that the Red Wings are “open for business” and will listen to offers on any player not named Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond.

This isn’t the first time Bertuzzi has been in trade talks. Just as recently as this past summer, he was among the top names of potential trades due to his age and when the Red Wings could be competing for the playoffs again. Bertuzzi is in the midst of the best season of his career, with 48 points in 50 games. On top of that, he is signed for $4.75 million AAV through 2023, which is attractive to teams as they would get two playoff runs with him under contract.

Potential Fits?

Colorado Avalanche

Joe Sakic has been on a mission over the past 24 hours, acquiring Josh Manson from Anaheim at 50 percent retained and then trading Tyson Jost for Nico Strum one-for-one, shedding almost $1.3 million in salary. According to CapFriendly, the Avalanche have roughly $2.6 million in cap space. Still, with possible long-term injuries to Samuel Girard and Gabriel Landeskog, they could move them to LTIR for more space.

The Avalanche has plenty of pieces that Detroit could be interested in, they don’t have a first-round pick for this year, but they do for 2023 and have high-end prospects such as Alex Newhook, Bowen Byram, and Oskar Olausson. With all the moves Sakic has been making to open up cap space, Bertuzzi could make sense in Colorado.

Florida Panthers

The Panthers have been one of the best teams all season, and adding Bertuzzi to that already stacked offense could help them get past the likes of Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Boston in the first round. The Panthers are currently playing Joe Thornton on their top line with Barkov and Verhaeghe. Bertuzzi would be a significant upgrade in that spot.

The Panthers also have the pieces to make this work, as they have the likes of Owen Tippett and Grigori Denisenko in the minors, who have both been reported to be on the trade block. With Florida only having a little under $3 million in cap space, Detroit would likely have to help by either retaining salary on Bertuzzi or taking back a player in the deal, like Frank Vatrano, who makes a little over $2.5 million for the rest of this year. If the Panthers could also add in their 2023 first-round pick along with one of Tippett or Denisenko, then that’s something Detroit should explore the possibility of.

The only question is, if Florida matches up with Toronto in the first round of the playoffs, would they be comfortable possibly not having Bertuzzi in the lineup when they are playing in Canada. Restrictions could change, but there has been no indication of that happening anytime soon.

There is no guarantee that Bertuzzi will be moved by Monday’s 3 p.m. deadline. Still, Steve Yzerman has an interesting decision to make on whether this team is going to be built around the timeline of Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi or Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. If it’s the ladder of the two options, then a Tyler Bertuzzi trade could make a lot of sense.