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Tyler Seguin: ‘I believe the Bruins gave up on me too soon’

By Vinnie Criscenzo

Jan 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) skates in warm-ups prior to the game against his former team the Boston Bruins at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 20, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) skates in warm-ups prior to the game against his former team the Boston Bruins at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tyler Seguin believes the Bruins gave up on him a little too early.

Just about a year-and-a-half since being traded by the Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin finally gave his thoughts on the trade.

According to Sports Illustrated, Seguin “100 percent believes” that the Bruins gave up on him too early.

"Now that it’s all completely in the past, I can give you my honest answer. Do I think the Bruins gave up on me too early? Yes, I 100 percent believe that."

It’s a fair opinion. Seguin was selected second overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft after the Bruins acquired the second overall pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Phil Kessel. In Seguin’s rookie year, he won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins. He began to really blossom in his second year, as he scored 29 goals and 38 assists for 67 points and had a plus-34 rating. In his third season with the Bruins during the lockout-shortened season, Seguin scored 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points and was a plus-23 in 48 games.

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Still, it wasn’t enough for the Bruins to want to hold on to the budding superstar. The Bruins traded Seguin the following offseason, along with Rich Peverley and prospect Ryan Button, for Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser and Joe Morrow.

At the time of the trade, it seemed obvious that the Bruins were just trying to dump Seguin.

A year before Seguin was traded, he signed a six-year, $34.5 million contract extension with the Bruins. The Bruins were strapped against the cap at the time, and honestly still are, and there were reports coming out before Seguin got traded that the Bruins were trying to unload him because of his cap hit.

Along with the cap situation, there were also reports that the Bruins were worried about Seguin’s attitude and professionalism. The Bruins have a certain “all business” type of mentality, and it didn’t seem like Seguin fit into that mantra. Although, they do put up with Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic.

Even so, those two play with the physicality that the Bruins love, and Seguin is not that type of player. There were also questions about his two-way play, which is a staple for the Bruins.

Seguin has since become a superstar with the Stars. He scored 37 goals and 47 assists for 84 points in his first season in Dallas and is looking like he could surpass those numbers this year, as he leads the league in goals and is an All-Star this season.

Sure, you can make the argument that Bruins gave up on him too early, but I believe you’d be wrong. The trade wasn’t about the Bruins giving up on Seguin. They knew what they had in Seguin and knew how prolific a goal-scorer he would become, there’s no doubt about that. The decision to trade Seguin was a business decision. The Bruins were in a bad cap situation and weren’t sure if Seguin’s personality and attitude would be a good fit in Boston. So, they made the decision to trade him and get a few pieces for the future.

The trade was basically a win for both teams. Dallas got a superstar winger to play with Jamie Benn and build their team around, and Boston got a veteran forward and a few pieces for the future. Two of which have already made big impacts with the big club, as Reilly Smith plays on the Bruins first line and Matt Fraser came up big in the playoffs last season with the Bruins.

H/T to Sports Illustrated for the quotes.

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