It's official: Bertuzzi to the Bruins in a blockbuster trade

It's official, the Boston Bruins have acquire forward Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a 1st round pick and a 4th round pick.

The Red Wings have also retained 50% of Bertuzzi's remaining salary in the deal.

The Bruins are getting one Hell of a player in Bertuzzi, regardless of the return. The 28 year old Sudbury, Ont native is in the final year of a contract that pays him $4.75 million per season and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason. He has four goals and 14 points in 29 games this season for the Red Wings, but managed a career high 30 goals and 62 points in 68 games just last season. He's a hardworking, nose the the grindstone type player who I personally think will fit in with the Bruins like a hand to a glove. And the best part is that the Bruins aren't removing anything from their roster to acquire Bertuzzi, thereby strengthening one of the NHL's best rosters even more. To put it bluntly, the Bruins are absolutely loaded headed into the playoffs this season.

As for the Red Wings, the past couple days certainly represents a transition for the team under GM Steve Yzerman. It's clear to me that the team's back to back losses to the Ottawa Senators showed Yzerman that this team isn't ready to compete with the top teams in the league. As a result, he has made both this deal and the Filip Hronek deal in an effort to acquire more future assets and to continue his team's rebuild.

It remains to be seen what's the Detroit's future, but Yzerman has sent a pretty clear message to the team's fanbase that they're not yet ready to take the next step. Personally, I have respect in Yzerman's opinion even if I would have preferred to see the Red Wings take a run at the playoffs this year. Again, I'm thinking that those back to back losses in Ottawa really went a long way towards sealing Detroit's fate this season in Yzerman's eyes.