Todd Bertuzzi is coming back to Canada.
The Calgary Flames have announced they have signed the power forward to a one-year, $1.95 million contract.
"Todd is a proven scorer with the ability to play both wings," said Flames GM Darryl Sutter in a statement. "He expressed to us that he wanted to play in Canada and that desire along with signing him to a one year deal was important to our philosophy. He wanted to play on a good team and it fit our money. Additionally, our captain, Jarome Iginla, was a strong supporter of Todd and wanted him on our team."
Bertuzzi signed a two-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks last year, but was recently bought out by the team - once again making him an unrestricted free agent.
The native of Sudbury, Ontario played in just 68 games for the Ducks last season, missing time with a concussion early in the season. Bertuzzi marked 14 goals and 26 assists last season, while also amassing 97 penalty minutes.
Bertuzzi's best season occured in 2002-03, when he scored 46 goals, 51 assists and was named to the First NHL All-Star team. Bertuzzi's career took a downward turn in 2004, when he was suspended indefinitely by the league for deliberately injurying the Avalanche's Steve Moore.
In June 2006, Bertuzzi was traded to the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster package that brought Roberto Luongo back to Vancouver and was engineered by then-Panther GM, and current Flames head coach, Mike Keenan.
However, a herniated disk in his back limited Bertuzzi to just seven games with the Panthers and he was eventually traded to the Detroit Red Wings, where he played just eight more games.
