Detroit Red Wings' Tyler Bertuzzi (back surgery) expected to be ready for 2021-22

The Detroit Red Wings rely on Tyler Bertuzzi for grit and goals and missed him dearly this season. Now they’re hoping he’ll be ready for the start of next season.

Three months after he left the Jan. 30 game early because of an ailing back, Bertuzzi underwent surgery.

“Like any injury, you never know for sure what recovery is like, but there is an anticipation that he is going to be able to make a full recovery and be ready at the start of next year,” coach Jeff Blashill said Wednesday. “We’ll see.”

Bertuzzi, 26, appeared in just nine games. He recorded five goals and two assists, netting back-to-back goals Jan. 28-30. He got banged up in the first of those games and tried to play through it.

Then he spent nearly three months attempting a comeback until it became clear he would need an operation. Surgery was performed April 30 at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

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Blashill exchanged a few texts with Bertuzzi post-procedure.

“Tyler is a pretty positive person generally,” Blashill said. “He’s been frustrated with the way everything shook out. He wants to play hockey. But he understands he went through the right process to this point and now it’s in the rehab process.”

Bertuzzi is up for a new contract, but he has established his value to the team with back-to-back 21-goal seasons prior to this year.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' Tyler Bertuzzi (back) to be ready for 2021-22