Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi hasn’t played since late January, and unfortunately, there remains no solid timetable as to a potential return to the lineup.
He’s joined the team on their current road trip, though hasn’t practiced. His only appearance on the ice so far has been during an optional skate.
According to head coach Jeff Blashill, Bertuzzi is “running out of runway” for a return to this season which has only five weeks remaining.
“He’s skated the last few days, so that’s some progress,” Blashill said. “Where that goes from here, I just don’t know. It totally depends on how it constantly feels after workouts, after skates. He’s had some moments where we thought he was inching closer and then he took steps backwards.
“The last week, he seems to be progressing. What that means, I don’t know. He’s been a long time out, so we are starting to run out of runway here.”
At the time of his injury, Bertuzzi had tallied nine points in seven games and was the team’s leading scorer.
“Once he hits his first practice, he’d be at least a week away,” Blashill said. “So you can do the math from there. I don’t even know when that first practice would be. But he’s skated three out of last four days, we’ll take that as a positive.”
– – Quotes via Helene St. James of The Detroit Free Press Link – –
Keeping his specific injury a secret doesn’t bode well with me, and I think many other fans. I wonder if his lengthy time off is truly justified, and why. It makes me wonder if there isn’t more to the story. Is there bad blood between Tyler and management?