When Tyler Bertuzzi went down with an undisclosed injury back in January, the expectation was that he'd miss a few games. A handful at most. Turns out his season was over.
The Red Wings announced Wednesday that Bertuzzi, 26, underwent back surgery April 30 in New York. "He's expected to make a full recovery and be ready for the start of the 2021-22 season," per the team.
It's a disappointing end to what began as a hopeful year for Bertuzzi, who had five goals and seven points in his first nine games after making the All-Star Game in 2020. Now he enters an uncertain offseason needing a new contract.
While Bertuzzi is a naturally positive person, it's obviously been a difficult few months. He was poised to play a big role on a team expected to improve. Instead he was stuck on the sidelines as the Wings struggled through another losing season.
"I think he's been frustrated," Jeff Blashill said Wednesday. "He's positive, yet he's got some emotion for sure. I think he's frustrated with how everything shook out. Tyler wants to play hockey, he loves to play hockey, he's a rink rat.
"But I also think he understands that he went through the right process to this point, and now it's on to the rehab process."
Bertuzzi signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with Detroit last offseason after the two sides couldn't reach a long-term agreement. He'll be a restricted free agent again this summer, with another one-year deal likely coming his way.
The Wings also announced Wednesday that forward Robby Fabbri will miss the final two games of the season, this weekend against Columbus, due to an upper-body injury that's sidelined him for the past month.
"I would say that's out of doing what's right and making sure that we're being a little bit cautious with it," Blashill said.
Fabbri, who also missed a chunk of time at the start of the year due to a bout with COVID-19, ends his season with 10 goals and 18 points in 30 games.
"I think he had a pretty good year," Blashill said. "When was on the ice I think he was pretty effective. He's a guy who can score goals, and that's obviously something that is needed in our lineup. I was happy with Robby's approach, I was happy with Robby's summer (last year) and he's going to have to have a real good summer again."
