Red Wings forward shipping off to Boston; Bruins acquire a winger who was linked to the Leafs on last night's broadcast

During the broadcast of the Leafs and Oilers game, it was reported that the Leafs had interest in Detroit forward Tyler Bertuzzi as the final piece to the puzzle that Kyle Dubas has constructed over the past three weeks. Unfortunately, the Boston Bruins have swooped in this morning and acquired the pending UFA from the Wings before the Leafs could act.

TSN's Darren Dreger reported that this move was likely due to the uncertainty around the injury to Taylor Hall who is awaiting a second opinion on his lower-body injury. The 28-year-old Bertuzzi has just 14 points in 29 games this season after missing 12 weeks with various upper-body injuries. In exchange for Bertuzzi, the Wings received Boston's first round pick in 2024 (protected) and a 2025 fourth round pick.

Bertuzzi's cap hit is $4.75M, but the Red Wings will be retaining 50% of his salary, so his cap hit for the Bruins will be $2.375M.

All eyes are now on Kyle Dubas to see where he turns and how he might respond. The Leafs have pursued Bertuzzi for a couple of seasons now. It will be interesting to see what plan B might be for Dubas and company.