Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland is one of the most astute executives in the NHL. But the news out of Detroit on Tuesday was bewildering.
The Wings signed winger Todd Bertuzzi to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.
Purely from a hockey standpoint, it makes no sense. Bertuzzi, who had 15 goals last season for the Calgary Flames, is washed up. Although he is only 34, he has seemed no longer capable of, or willing to provide, the physical play that made him one of the top power forwards in the league.
The Red Wings are willing to concede some of that. Bertuzzi isn’t going to be counted on to play all season on a line with Pavel Datsyuk and score 50 goals. His salary is “reasonable.” It’s two-thirds of what Darcy Tucker will make for the Avalanche.
Yet ever since March 8, 2004, Bertuzzi has been toxic. With Bertuzzi on the roster, the Red Wings advanced to the conference finals in 2007 before losing to Anaheim. That’s the only time in the past five years he has been on a team that won a playoff series. His inclusion on the 2006 Canadian Olympic team not only was inappropriate, but counterproductive; the Canadians didn’t win a medal. Bertuzzi isn’t solely responsible for his team failures, but in high-stakes play, everything — including karma — comes into play.
No, I haven’t forgotten Steve Moore (unlike the Avalanche, who at least should make a run at signing his brother, Dominic, an unrestricted free agent after failing to come to terms with Toronto during the season and then Buffalo before the July 1 cutoff).
You know the details of what happened. What Bertuzzi did was disgraceful. His NHL 17-month suspension, which ran through the lockout season, was insufficient. The sentence he drew from a British Columbia court, probation and community service, was light. To me, though, what’s most galling at this point is the cavalier acceptance of Bertuzzi within the sport as just some guy who temporarily snapped, went a bit far, but served his five minutes in the penalty box, and is back on the ice.
Moore’s Ontario lawsuit is finally on the verge of being heard this fall. Bet on a last-second settlement, in part because the NHL doesn’t want the overflowing dirty-laundry bin from this one dumped in court.
Bottom line: Bertuzzi is a lot of things. His “case” is a black eye for the league. Yet even if it just comes down to trying to win games, he’s more trouble than he’s worth.
