It has been a busy offseason for Utah as the former Coyotes get set for their first season in their new home. With training camp approaching, they’ve added some extra depth on the back end as the team announced (Twitter link) that they have signed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo to a one-year deal. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that it’s a two-way agreement that pays $775K in the NHL and $450K in the minors.
The 35-year-old is a veteran of 13 NHL seasons, spanning 560 games. Last season, Bortuzzo started the year in St. Louis but had a very limited role and spent considerable time as a healthy scratch. He was then acquired by the Islanders in December with New York dealing with considerable injuries at that time. Bortuzzo played a regular role after being acquired but then was injured himself, missing 28 games due to a lower-body issue. The veteran then returned to his third-pairing role for the stretch run and playoffs.
Between the two teams, Bortuzzo played in 27 regular season games last season. While he was held off the scoresheet entirely, he collected 51 blocked shots and 38 hits while averaging 13:44 per night. For his career, he has 74 points, 711 blocks, and 1,095 his to his credit while spending time with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and New York.
Bortuzzo is the latest addition to a Utah back end that has undergone significant changes this summer. The team added Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino on the second day of the draft in trades with Tampa Bay and New Jersey and then inked veteran Ian Cole to a one-year, $3.1MM deal in free agency. The four newcomers join holdovers Sean Durzi, Juuso Valimaki, and Michael Kesselring on a much-improved blueline as the franchise looks to take a step forward toward emerging from its long-term rebuild.
Former NHL winger Scottie Upshall was the first to report the signing.
fun fact, Bortuzzo and Cole were traded for each other in 2015.