Wings Sign Bertuzzi

Well, it was made official quicker than expected. The Red Wings officially signed free agent forward, Todd Bertuzzi, to a new 1-year deal, although the actual financial term was not disclosed in the release.

The deal rumoured to be happening this morning, came to fruition quickly this afternoon, as there was many indications that the deal wouldn't be finalized until the end of the week.

Bertuzzi played in 66 games last season for the Flames, while battling a back injury in January and a knee injury in March. He managed to score 15 goals and add 29 assists, which wasn't a bad total, one of his better years in the past three seasons.

Now, if the rumoured salary amount is to be true ($1.5 million), that would put the Red Wings over the salary cap ceiling as of right now. They would have 22 players signed on at a rate of $56.95 million, just over the $56.8 million ceiling. Now, there is a lot of concern as to whether or not Andreas Lilja will be able to open the season on the roster, which would cut a good portion of cap space out of the initial math, making room for Bertuzzi, so there is no dire need to panic just yet in Detroit.

Veteran acquisitions in Jason Williams and Todd Bertuzzi could go a long ways to help out the team, which lost out on some of it's more high-priced talent, thanks to those long-term deals given to their superstars. It could be safe to say that Bertuzzi should fit into the second line heading into camp or at least compete with Williams for that coveted spot. With a lot of their talent, they could likely spread out their firepower over three lines, giving the team plenty of options for scoring.

The summer has made the Red Wings an intriguing team to watch this season.