Detroit Red Wings: Tyler Bertuzzi earned his top-six role in 2019-20

The Detroit Red Wings have some decisions to make this offseason, re-signing Tyler Bertuzzi should be a no brainer as a top-six forward.

The Detroit Red Wings have a ton of restricted free agents to look at this offseason, Tyler Bertuzzi being one of them. During the 2019-20 season, Bertuzzi showed that he belongs in a Red Wings uniform for the foreseeable future.

This past season showed that Bertuzzi earned a spot in the Red Wings top six forwards as one of the reliable wingers. In his fourth season and third full season in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Red Wings, he came into his own.

In 2019-20, Bertuzzi played in seventy-one games before the outbreak of COVID-19 would put a stop to the season. In those seventy-one games, Bertuzzi would manage 21 goals and 27 assists for 48 points on the season.

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This was a career-high for Bertuzzi, he may have only topped his 2018-19 season total by one point, but he was robbed of eleven games, providing they are not still played later this summer.

Bertuzzi needs to be paid so that he sticks around for the extent of the rebuild and into a time where the Red Wings are competitive.

Even on this rebuilding Red Wings team, Bertuzzi found ways to put the puck in the net or make things happen.

This bodes well for his future as a winger with the Red Wings, being that he is only twenty-five years old and should be a force for the future.

Bertuzzi is one of the top three overall forwards on the team though he solidified his role as a first or second-line winger.

Bertuzzi joins Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha as the top three forwards on the Red Wings, and keeping this core three players together will only be a good thing. Mantha is also a restricted free agent, poised for a long term deal from the Red Wings.

Red Wings General Manager (GM) Steve Yzerman needs to be smart, and make sure that he re-signs Bertuzzi and Mantha as restricted free agents for the long haul. With any luck, Bertuzzi will add to the growing offensive core for years to come, especially after his production in 2019-20.

On top of his performance on the rebuilding team, after Mantha was injured, Bertuzzi was named to the 2019-20 All-Star Game as the Red Wings representative. Interestingly enough, this all-star nomination forced him to switch up his marriage proposal plans.

Bertuzzi had quite the season, on and off the ice, proving that he is well worth a long-term extension with the Detroit Red Wings to be a part of the future plans.