As of this writing, Tyler Seguin is currently first in the entire NHL in goals and second in points. Seguin has been a scoring machine since being traded by the Boston Bruins in the summer of 2013 to the Dallas Stars. He has meshed well with captain Jamie Benn as the two have formed a dynamic duo that matches up well against other elite forward pairings in the league. With every goal and sick pass Seguin makes, the deal to acquire him looks better by the day.
As Seguin has lit the league on fire, many ask why on Earth Boston traded him in the first place. It looks especially worse with the Bruins struggling to score at times and lacking the speed other teams possess. The consensus seems to be that Seguin liked to party a little too much and lacked the level of professionalism the Bruins wanted. The Boston media ripped apart Seguin’s character in the wake of the trade. No doubt Seguin has had his missteps along the way as pictures of him partying hard have surfaced. They were hardly harmful but the poorly word homophobic esque tweets didn’t do him any favours.
But what is it about Seguin that has made him into a top scorer? It seems like he took all the tools he had as a junior player and has made them translate to the NHL. His speed helps him create a lot of chances while the goal scoring and playmaking abilities he already had have only gotten better over time. He is a solid 6’1″ and 200 LBS (according to NHL.com) and while his defensive game isn’t great, he has shown a lot of improvement in that area since his rookie year. No doubt playing on a tightly structured Boston team and playing alongside a strong two-way player in Patrice Bergeron benefited Seguin in his time there.
Seguin has started to show some maturation off the ice too. After one of his best friends was in the car accident and became a quadriplegic, it inspired Seguin to start “Seguin’s Stars” with the intention of introducing people with spinal cord injuries and similar challenges to the game of hockey. At 22 years old, Seguin is still young but is starting to evolve into a leader for the Stars and has been a good marketing ploy for the team. Dallas is a big sports town with teams in all four major sports. But there is little doubt the NFL’s Cowboys are king in Texas with the NBA’s Mavericks and MLB’s Rangers being popular in their own right. The Stars lag in comparison but having a rising young superstar can’t hurt in trying attract more fans.
Throughout his career, Seguin has been compared with draft mate Taylor Hall who of course went first overall to Edmonton. Their careers have taken different paths with Seguin already experienced a Stanley Cup championship while Hall hasn’t even sniffed the playoffs in his time with the Oilers. Statistically, both players are very similar but overall right now between the two, I would give Seguin the edge. Playing his natural position of centre has made him even more dangerous as an offensive threat. You can say that Seguin plays on a better team with an elite power forward in Jamie Benn and it’s true that Dallas is better than Edmonton, it’s not like Hall is completely bereft of talented players to play with.
While Seguin may not be the NHL’s poster boy for good behaviour, he has matured a lot in the past year. Being traded to a new look Dallas team has provided a fresh start for Seguin by assuming the number one centre role and being supported by good hockey people in GM Jim Nill and head coach Lindy Ruff. His ascent to the top of the NHL has been entertaining to watch as he is one of the game’s brightest young stars. With his array of tools and work ethic, the sky’s the limit for Seguin.
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