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Tonight, the NHL is hoping that a massive boost is coming to the playoff landscape as Toronto and Boston go head to head in an uncontested game 7 (in terms of NHL games). The feelings of elation vs. elimination hang in the balance and tomorrow will be very different for the two fanbases.

As the playoffs go on, there will inevitably be performances by players who step up and capture the headlines. Inevitably, someone will find a raise and possibly a bidding war on the opening market. It’s not impossible that a player “levels up” this time of year, there are also depth players who have more jump as top lines try to cancel each other out. “The Grind Line” was much loved in Detroit, and of course D-Mac had a beautiful cup clinching goal against Philadelphia. Fans get caught up in the moment, and so do GMs. A well timed uptick in play can add significantly to someone’s market value and it feels like front offices can’t help themselves. Contracts that won’t look so hot in the fall and winter will be signed in the wave of post playoff adrenaline.

On the other side of things is the one year deal where a player “bet on themselves” and the results were less than what was hoped for. This brings my thinking for today to Tyler Bertuzzi. This is a divisive topic at the very least as Detroit has a flow of free agents heading out the door and multiple bad contracts on the books.

As the “quiet days” set in, you take a look again at This summer’s UFA class.. Little ‘Bert had such an interesting journey. His being picked at 58th overall was not a popular pick, and his first camp saw Jensen get injured on a hit from the scrappy winger.

Then, in Grand Rapids, Tyler found a following. He started to emerge and in Detroit he and Larkin became inseparable. There may still be YouTube clips out there, but when the two were on the ice Larkin would yell at Bert, “show me something!” The two just wanted to push each other. Last year’s trade deadline saw Bertuzzi head to Boston after an extension wasn’t reached and a one year deal signed in Toronto (truly ironic today).

To be completely clear, I love the energy Tyler brought to the ice and the camaraderie that he and Larkin shared. Reality has some hefty deals on the books, and unless a really good 1 year deal could bring him into the fold (and find a way to move some other deals) it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll see Bert back in Detroit. Some of you wouldn’t mind seeing a return, some of you have absolutely no appetite. Let me know where you stand. This is just the “nostalgia” bit of the quiet days as we await the next step forward in crafting next year’s roster. Tomorrow is going to be a day with many headlines and a chance for the Griffins to advance in the Calder Cup chase. It will be interesting to see what the post season landscape looks like.

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