Bruins’ Don Sweeney Weighs In On Free Agent Tyler Bertuzzi

It sounds as if Tyler Bertuzzi will not be wearing a Boston Bruins sweater next season.

Bertuzzi, who Boston acquired ahead of the NHL trade deadline during the 2022-23 campaign, currently is a free agent. And Bruins general manager Don Sweeney on Saturday hinted at Bertuzzi’s next move when asked if Boston’s “door is closed” on the 28-year-old winger.

“Yeah, in all likelihood, yes,” Sweeney told reporters during a press conference, per a team-provided transcript.

It previously was reported that Bertuzzi was unlikely to return to Boston.

“The term that he has rightfully probably earned, the AAV (average annual value) that he’s seeking and what other teams are in position to provide that we probably weren’t, unless I made another big move and again, he’s going to land in a really good spot for him and his family and we wish him luck,” Sweeney said. “He was a great piece of our puzzle and dearly would like to have gone down the path to extend him.”

The Bruins had a few former players, including Garnet Hathaway (Philadelphia Flyers), Dmitry Orlov (Carolina Hurricanes) and Connor Clifton (Buffalo Sabres), sign elsewhere at the start of NHL free agency.

Boston did, however, sign a few players itself, including the reunion of Milan Lucic and free-agent additions Patrick Brown, Kevin Shattenkirk, Jayson Megna and Luke Toporowski.