Author: George Malik

Alex Wood, a.k.a. AWood40 on YouTube, has posted a 24-minute clip of Dylan Larkin highlights from the 2020-2021 season:

Today and tomorrow will mark milestones of sorts for this year’s restricted free agent class, s CapFriendly notes…

Today at 5pm ET is the deadline for all arbitration eligible players to file for player-elected salary arbitration.

Tomorrow at 5pm ET is the deadline for club-elected filings.

We currently display 58 players as being Arb eligible this off-season ?https://t.co/QqTDcGAerJ— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 1, 2021

Per CapFriendly, Jakub Vrana, Adam Erne and Chase Pearson are eligible for arbitration; Filip Hronek and Givani Smith are not.

Yesterday at this time, the Red Wings announced that they’d signed Tyler Bertuzzi to a 2-year, $9 million contract extension. Bertuzzi spoke with the media yesterday afternoon, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes Bertuzzi’s comments this morning:

The first half of 2021 was challenging for Bertuzzi: He had a great start to the season with five goals and seven points in nine games, then a back injury caused him so much pain he ended up missing the rest of the season. He underwent surgery in April, and happily reports everything looks good for being ready for training camp, which begins Sept. 23.

“Last year was very, very tough, physically and mentally, being in pain every day,” Bertuzzi said. “But everything is going as planned. Pretty much all restrictions are lifted in the gym. Been skating. No setbacks. Everything is going really well. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Back injuries can be tough to bounce back from. Defenseman Danny DeKeyser, five years older than Bertuzzi, hasn’t looked as effective since undergoing back surgery in December 2019. Bertuzzi’s style is in-your-face — he loves to mix it up with opponents, and has a knack for scoring goals around the net, where shoves and crosschecks run rampant. But Bertuzzi sounds determined that to be just as big of a pest as he was. That element of his game was a big part of his appeal when the Wings drafted him in the second round in 2013.

Bertuzzi’s rehabbing pal  is Larkin, who left the Wings’ April 20 game in obvious pain after Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn shoved his stick into Larkin’s neck. Larkin was hospitalized and had to wear a neck brace. Yzerman said last week Larkin is progressing well, and Bertuzzi said his and Larkin’s training has included working with skating coaches.

“We’re all working out at the rink,” Bertuzzi said. “I see Larks every day. We’re working out side by side, we’re both getting better, skating together. When more guys come to town, we’ll skate with them.”

St. James continues (paywall)

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe broke the news that long-time Tledo Walleye forward Shane Berschbach retired this morning, and this evening, Monroe has penned a very lengthy article in which the Walleye’s all-time leading scorer discusses his decision to step away from the game:

Future Toledo hockey hall of famer Shane Berschbach, a fixture and cornerstone for the Walleye organization for nearly half of its existence, has retired.

Berschbach, who played six seasons for the ECHL franchise, announced his retirement on Instagram on Saturday. The speedy forward is the organization’s leader in every significant offensive category.

“It’s tough, for sure,” Berschbach said. “It has been the best ride I could have asked for. Big thanks to the city, people, and fans of Toledo. It was an honor to play in front of you for six years. The atmosphere you guys brought every night was second to none and something I’ll remember forever. You guys made Toledo feel like home. I’ll always remember all the good days and the people of Toledo and going to the rink every day and the people I got to work with daily.”

Berschbach, who turned 30 in May, is the Walleye’s all-time leader in games played (376).

The native of Clawson, Mich. also retires as the team’s career leader in points collected (393), goals scored (116), and assists (277).

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects wrapped up eight days’ worth of games and practices at USA Hockey Arena on Saturday, concluding the World Junior Summer Showcase with a pair of entertaining games.

Team Sweden finally earned their first win in 5 tries, defeating Team USA White 7-1;

Defenseman William Wallinder had 2 assists and was +3 for Sweden, and Theodor Niederbach, playing on the wing, had an assist and was +2 for Sweden…

For the U.S. side, defenseman Shai Buium had a good game despite finishing at -3, and Cross Hanas had a quiet game due to all the special teams play, finishing at -2.

In terms of highlights, IceHockeyGifs covered the game, and here are the plays in which Wallinder and Niederbach had assists:

Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi spoke with the media this afternoon after signing a 2-year, $9.5 million contract with Detroit as a restricted free agent:

NHL.com’s Dave Hogg took note of Bertuzzi’s remarks regarding his rehabilitation from back surgery and the length of the 26-year-old’s contract…

Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi is scheduled to speak with the media regarding his two-year contract with the team today at 2:00 PM EDT:

Tweets of note:

Great news as I headed to the rink this morning:

The #LGRW re-signed 26 y/o F Tyler Bertuzzi to 2 year $4.75M cap hit deal.

Yr 1 $4.25M salary
Yr 2 $5.75M salary

He was an RFA with a $3.5M qualifying offer and 1 year from UFA. New deal covers 1 UFA year.

Rep’d by Todd Reynolds @uptownhockey https://t.co/mPtn0TF4AB

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 31, 2021

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today re-signed left wing Tyler Bertuzzi to a two-year contract.

Details: https://t.co/vlCVkRRGqC pic.twitter.com/HlCtGzmylG

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 31, 2021

RED WINGS RE-SIGN TYLER BERTUZZI TO TWO-YEAR CONTRACT  … 2020 NHL All-Star Has Skated in 208 NHL Games Since 2016-17 …DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today re-signed left wing Tyler Bertuzzi to a two-year contract.

Bertuzzi, 26, was limited to nine games with the Red Wings in 2020-21 due to injury but logged seven points (5-2-7) and four penalty minutes. Bertuzzi was coming off a career season with the Red Wings in 2019-20, setting career highs in assists (27), points (48) and penalty minutes (40) while posting his second-straight 21-goal campaign, which led the team, and finishing as one of two players to skate in all 71 games (along with Dylan Larkin). The 6-foot-1, 199-pound winger has appeared in 208 games with the Red Wings since making his NHL debut during the 2016-17 campaign, totaling 126 points (54-72-126) and 119 penalty minutes. Originally a second round pick (58th overall) of the Red Wings in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Bertuzzi was also Detroit’s representative at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game.

The Sudbury, Ontario, native has accrued six professional seasons between Detroit and the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. In parts of four seasons with the Griffins (2014-18), Bertuzzi tallied 82 points (32-50-82), a plus-15 rating and 204 penalty minutes in 137 regular-season games. He also posted 39 points (23-16-39), a plus-12 rating and 68 penalty minutes in 42 career AHL postseason games. Bertuzzi helped the Griffins win the 2017 Calder Cup Championship, as he won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy awarded to the most-valuable player of the playoffs after posting 19 points (9-10-19) in 19 postseason contests. Prior to turning pro, Bertuzzi skated four seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm, earning 172 points (72-100-172), a plus-35 rating and 325 penalty minutes over 201 games from 2011-15. Bertuzzi won an OHL championship with the Storm in 2014 alongside fellow Red Wings forwards Robby Fabbri and Pius Suter, and was named an OHL Second-Team All-Star the following season after notching 98 points (43-55-98) in 68 games in his final season of major junior hockey.

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe reports sad news for Toledo Walleye fans this morning:

Future Toledo hockey hall of famer Shane Berschbach, a star forward for the Walleye, has decided to retire.

Berschbach, who played six seasons for the Toledo Walleye, announced his retirement via Instagram on Saturday. The speedy forward is the organization’s leader in every significant offensive category.

Berschbach, who turned 30 in May, is the Walleye’s all-time leader in games played (376).

The native of Clawson, Mich., also retires as the team’s career leader in points (393), goals scored (116), and assists (277).

Continued

Our all-time leader in…

games played,
goals,
assists,
and points.

Thank you for everything, #10. ? pic.twitter.com/GvhI0HycTM— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) July 31, 2021

Of podcast-related note this morning:

1. The Detroit News posted its latest “Octopulse” podcast, in which Ted Kulfan discusses the Red Wings’ free agency moves, Kulfan interviews Wings prospect Cross Hanas, whose dad was once given a try-out with the Red Wings, and the podcast summarizes the interviews given by several of the Wings’ free agency and draft additions:

2. And DetroitRedWings.com’s Art Regner interviews Simon Edvinsson, Sebastian Cossa and Carter Mazur just after the players were drafted this past weekend in the latest episode of “The Red & White Authority”: