Robert Bortuzzo

BIOGRAPHY

Robert Bortuzzo was born on March 18, 1989, in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He is a defenseman in the NHL.

On September 4, 2007, Bortuzzo was invited to the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL camp, but was re-assigned to the Rangers for the 2007–08 season. During his second season with the team, Bortuzzo helped the Rangers set a new franchise record for points in a season as he scored the game winning goal in a 4–3 win over the Saginaw Spirit. The Rangers eventually won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the OHL team who finished the regular season with the best record. Bortuzzo helped the team qualify for the 2008 Memorial Cup and, in spite of a shoulder injury, recorded eight assists and a plus-18 rating. Former Penguins director of player personnel Jay Heinbuck spoke highly of Bortuzzo's play during the tournament saying, "He's got a good work ethic, he doesn't get beat one-on-one, he has good puck skills. I don't envision him being an offensive defenseman, but his passing is above average."

During the offseason, Bortuzzo attended the Penguins 2008 Conditioning Camp, although he missed the beginning of the 2008–09 season due to a shoulder injury and subsequent recovery. Upon his return to the line-up, Bortuzzo played in the remaining 23 games and managed one goal and 16 assists. He signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins on May 27, 2009, to conclude his major junior career. Bortuzzo finished his tenure with the Rangers accumulating 49 points in 138 regular-season games.

After playing in 38 games for the Penguins and accumulating six points, Bortuzzo was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenceman Ian Cole. He made his St. Louis Blues debut on March 5, 2015, against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. Bortuzzo played out the remainder of the 2014–15 season with the Blues, recording 2 points in 13 games. At the conclusion of the season, the Blues signed Bortuzzo to a two-year contract in order to keep him on the team. Although the Blues qualified for the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs, he was unable to compete due to an upper-body injury.

On October 7, 2015, Bortuzzo was named to the Blues' opening night roster to begin the 2015–16 season, although his ability to play was questioned due to a preseason injury. He suffered a lower body injury during a game against the Montreal Canadiens on January 17, 2016, and missed one game to recover. Bortuzzo made his post-season debut with the team during the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs in the Western Conference Second Round against the Dallas Stars. Coach Ken Hitchcock paired him with Kevin Shattenkirk because "One's a defending player and one's an attacking player....Our feeling is we need more attacking right now. [Bortuzzo] is a guy that jumps up on the play, really attacks. He plays on his toes and he's good at joining the rush and making plays from the red line in." Although they beat the Stars, the team eventually lost to the San Jose Sharks during the Western Conference Final.

Although Bortuzzo was named to the Blues' opening night roster to begin the 2016–17 season, he suffered a lower-body injury during a loss to the Detroit Red Wings on October 27, 2016, and missed ten games to recover. Upon returning from his injury, Bortuzzo was consistently paired with Colton Parayko until he was re-injured on December 3 during a game against the Winnipeg Jets and placed on injured reserve. As he was entering the final year of his contract, Bortuzzo signed a two-year, $2.3 million extension to stay with the team on December 29. At the time of his singing, he had recorded two points, a goal and an assist, in 11 games while also averaging 13:48 of ice time. Bortuzzo ended up missing a total of 16 games to recover from his injury against the Jets and returned to the Blues line-up on January 12, 2017, against the Los Angeles Kings. He suffered another injury on March 31 against the Colorado Avalanche which delayed his 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs debut until Game 2 against the Minnesota Wild. He played a total of 10 games before the Blues were eliminated from the postseason.

On October 2, 2017, Bortuzzo was named to the Blues' opening night roster to begin the 2017–18 season, paired with rookie Vince Dunn. Seven days later, Bortuzzo was fined $3,091.40 for a cross-check delivered to the New York Islanders' forward Brock Nelson. As the season continued, Bortuzzo sat as a healthy scratch five times and was injured in his career-high 55th game of the season. He missed five games to recover from his left knee injury but returned to the Blues line-up on March 3. In spite of his injury, Bortuzzo set career highs in goals and points with four goals and 13 points. Bortuzzo competed with the Blues in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, during which he hit Nashville Predators forward Kevin Fiala in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round, causing a season ending injury. The Blues ended up losing to the Predators in six games, sending the Predators to their first conference final in franchise history.