Tyler Bertuzzi reveals why he chose Maple Leafs over Bruins

Despite the Boston Bruins saying that the wanted to retain scrappy forward Tyler Bertuzzi, they were unable to do so. But the deal that he signed was a bit of an eye opener.

He inked a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs worth $5.5 million, a far cry from the reported multi-year deal that he was seeking. In fact, it was said that the chief reasoning behind his departure from the Detroit Red Wings at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline was that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman was unwilling to offer him a contract any longer than two or three years. 

The Leafs now have themselves an extremely important, albeit injury prone, player who proved that he could come through in the clutch in the postseason. So, why did he choose Toronto? 

"If I was going to do a one year deal, I wanted to go to a team that I thought had a great chance to win, and Toronto is at the top of my list," Bertuzzi said. "To be closer to family and to see them more will be good. I got a taste of it (winning) in Boston and had a lot of fun playing playoff hockey, and I wanted another crack at it." 

Bertuzzi is coming off what could be considered a down year, considering that he missed long stretches of play after he broke not one but both of his hands in separate shot blocking incidents with the Red Wings. But upon his trade to Boston, he provided an instant lift to their already record-breaking winning year, and would go on to score five goals with five assists for the Bruins in the playoffs in their ill-fated Round 1 series against the Florida Panthers. 

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