Tyler Bertuzzi shares trick the Blackhawks used to sign him away from Toronto

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Tom Banks
July 5, 2024 (5:14 PM)

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Tyler Bertuzzi shocked the NHL world when he landed in Chicago as a free agent, and now he's detailed how he was pried away from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

NHL free agency has been a wild ride thus far in 2024, and one of the moves that shocked people the most was the decision of Tyler Bertuzzi to forgo returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs, instead opting to join his fourth Original Six team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

The move was an absolute shocker, and now we know how the Blackhawks were able to convince the veteran forward to join their rising organization.

Tyler Bertuzzi says the Blackhawks weren't on his radar until Nick Foligno called the day before free agency and let him know they were interested. Foligno basically an extension of the front office at this point.

According to Bertuzzi, Chicago called upon Nick Foligno, a teammate with Bertuzzi from their short time together in Boston, getting him to make first contact with Tyler the day before free agency began. It's unclear if the money would have been matched by the Maple Leafs, but getting to reunite with Foligno and play alongside Connor Bedard was too much to turn down as Bertuzzi is now there for the next four years.