UTAH HC SIGNS ROBERT BORTUZZO TO ONE-YEAR, TWO-WAY CONTRACT
A veteran blueliner is joining a young core in the NHL’s new market.
On Saturday, former NHLer Scottie Upshall reported that defenseman Robert Bortuzzo has signed a one-year contract with the Utah Hockey Club. The two-way deal carries an NHL cap hit of $775,000 for the 2024-25 season, with a minor-league salary of $450,000.
He immediately becomes the oldest defenseman on the UHC roster. The 35-year-old is joining a talented young blue line in Salt Lake City that includes Sean Durzi, John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev.
This will be the third team in two seasons for the veteran defender. Bortuzzo started the 2023-24 season with the St. Louis Blues, the organization he spent over nine seasons with, before being traded to the New York Islanders last December. He played 23 games during the regular season on Long Island, but missed over two months with a lower-body injury after suffering getting hurt in early January. However, Bortuzzo returned in time to be in full health for the playoffs. He played in all five games in the first round, as the Isles were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes.
After registering no points in the regular season with the Islanders, Bortuzzo posted an assist against the Hurricanes. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native hasn’t scored a goal since March 21, 2023.
Bortuzzo started his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team that took him in the third round, 78th overall, of the 2007 NHL Draft. He was traded to the Blues in the middle of the 2014-15 season, and became a vital depth player as St. Louis tried to push for deep runs in the postseason. In 2019, he scored a huge game-winning goal in the Western Conference Final against the San Jose Sharks, as the Blues went on to win the Stanley Cup for the first time.
In 560 NHL games, Bortuzzo has scored 20 goals and 54 assists for 74 points with a plus/minus of +39. In 60 playoff appearances, he has notched two goals and three assists, both of which came in the 2019 postseason.
Want more articles like this? Follow Daily Faceoff on MSN to see more of our exclusive NHL content.
More must-reads:
2024-09-01T13:43:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd