Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

Development from within is tantamount to success in today's NHL.

The Detroit Red Wings appear to have a solid prospect in a bonus draft pick.

Tyler Bertuzzi continued his strong performance in the AHL playoffs by scoring twice to help the Grand Rapids Griffins win the first game of their first-round series Friday at Milwaukee. He followed that with another goal in the Griffins' 2-1 win Saturday to take a 2-0 series lead. Anthony Mantha scored the other goal. Bertuzzi, 21, now has 10 goals in 16 playoff games with the Griffins.

The Wings drafted Bertuzzi, the nephew of former Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi, in the second round in 2013. They got an extra pick that round by trading down two spots in the first round (they were confident they'd still get Anthony Mantha, which they did). They drafted Bertuzzi at 58th overall, certain they saw more in him even though he was projected to go in round three. At the time, Todd Bertuzzi described his nephew as "a fearless little bugger."

The play of the younger Bertuzzi has drawn comparisons to Chicago's Andrew Shaw. Bertuzzi turned pro last spring, and had seven goals and 12 points in 14 playoff games for the Griffins. Then-coach Jeff Blashill, now in Detroit, said Bertuzzi had a huge impact on the Griffins in Round 2 of their playoffs. Blashill compared Bertuzzi to a Justin Abdelkader-type player.

Worlds ahoy: With the Wings' season over, players are committing to the World Championship. Dylan Larkin will make his second straight appearance for the U.S. at the tournament, which will be held May 6-22 in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. Teemu Pulkkinen will represent Finland. It's likely Pavel Datsyuk will want to play since it's in his homeland. More Wings could commit in coming days.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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