Bertuzzi played for six teams during his 18 NHL seasons, but he is best known for his time with the Vancouver Canucks in the early 2000s.
The New York Islanders selected Bertuzzi, a power forward from Sudbury, Ontario, in the first round (No. 23) of the 1993 NHL Draft after his second season with Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League. He played two more seasons with Guelph, including scoring 54 goals in 1994-95, before making his NHL debut with the Islanders on Oct. 7, 1995, when he scored his first NHL goal and had an assist in a 4-4 tie with the Boston Bruins.
Bertuzzi played for six teams during his 18 NHL seasons, but he is best known for his time with the Vancouver Canucks in the early 2000s.
The New York Islanders selected Bertuzzi, a power forward from Sudbury, Ontario, in the first round (No. 23) of the 1993 NHL Draft after his second season with Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League. He played two more seasons with Guelph, including scoring 54 goals in 1994-95, before making his NHL debut with the Islanders on Oct. 7, 1995, when he scored his first NHL goal and had an assist in a 4-4 tie with the Boston Bruins.
He finished his rookie season with 18 goals and 39 points, but after struggling to meet expectations the following two seasons, Bertuzzi was traded to the Canucks on Feb. 6, 1998.
Bertuzzi missed most of the 1998-99 season because of a leg injury, but he blossomed in 1999-00, getting 55 points (25 goals, 30 assists) in 79 games. He then had a breakout season in 2001-02, scoring 36 goals and 85 points as part of one of the NHL's best lines with Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison.
Bertuzzi was even better in 2002-03, finishing with NHL career highs in goals (46), assists (51) and points (97) and leading the League with 25 power-play goals. That season, he was named an NHL First Team All-Star.
In January 2004, Bertuzzi was voted as a starter for the NHL All-Star Game and would get 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) in 69 games before being suspended for the remainder of the season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a hit from behind on Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore.
He returned following the lockout and scored 25 goals and 71 points in 2005-06, but the Canucks traded Bertuzzi to the Florida Panthers as part of the package for goalie Roberto Luongo on June 23, 2006. However, he played just eight games for Florida before being sidelined by a herniated disk that required surgery.
During his recovery, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he played eight games in 2006-07.
After becoming a free agent, Bertuzzi signed with the Anaheim Ducks on July 2, 2007. He spent one season with the Ducks and one with the Calgary Flames before returning to the Red Wings in the summer of 2009.
During his second stint in Detroit, Bertuzzi was never able to replicate his offensive numbers he'd piled up earlier in his career, but he settled in as a solid middle-six forward with the Red Wings for five seasons.
Bertuzzi retired after playing two games with Binghamton of the American Hockey League in 2014-15. He had 770 points (314 goals, 456 assists) in 1,159 regular-season games, and 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 87 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- OHL Second All-Star Team (1995)
- NHL First All-Star Team (2003)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (2003, 2004)
- Traded to Vancouver by NY Islanders with Bryan McCabe and NY Islanders' 3rd round pick (Jarkko Ruutu) in 1998 NHL Draft for Trevor Linden, February 6, 1998.
- Traded to Florida by Vancouver with Bryan Allen and Alex Auld for Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and Florida's 6th round pick (Sergei Shirokov) in 2006 NHL Draft, June 23, 2006.
- Traded to Detroit by Florida for Shawn Matthias and Detroit's 2nd round pick (later traded to Nashville, Nashville selected Nick Spaling) in 2007 NHL Draft, February 27, 2007.
- Signed as a free agent by Anaheim, July 2, 2007.
- Signed as a free agent by Calgary, July 7, 2008.
- Signed as a free agent by Detroit, August 18, 2009.
- Signed to a PTO (professional tryout) contract by Binghampton (AHL), January 12, 2015.