Tyler Seguin still has a challenging road ahead

Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin will have a busy summer getting his body ready for the 2021 season.

Tyler Seguin is like most hockey players come playoff time. No matter the physical trauma your body is enduring, the only real option is to battle through and join your teammates on the ice.

Last year in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, Seguin did not miss one game despite playing with a torn hip labrum and a side of bubbling knee issues. There was a major cost.The offseason started with hip arthroscopy and labral repair surgery followed by a right knee scope six weeks later.

Playing through the pain even in the NHL bubble playoffs was the only option at the time for Seguin but he missed all but three games in 2021. Seguin does not regret his playoff bubble decision which really wasn’t much of a “decision.”

“It’s just kind of in our DNA I guess,” Seguin told FanSided. “Growing up as a kid you’re obviously in love with hockey and you watch the NHL. That week after a team is eliminated from the playoffs, you start hearing about all these injuries and all these guys playing with broken legs or broken ribs, separated shoulders. Once you make it to the league you get to experience that first hand what guys go through and I think because of that your subconscious makes you want to push through.”

Tyler Seguin’s road to recovery will be grueling

Seguin is still in the middle of a grueling rehab. The two surgeries cost him his quad muscle which has taken a long time to build back into shape.

“Trying to do a typical body weight squat has been very tough,” Seguin said. “I still really can’t do that fully still. I need another 12 to 14 percent until it is as strong as my left one and then from there get into the explosive stuff.”

Getting back to being ready for an 82-game season is Seguin’s goal this summer. He had missed a total of 32 games in his 10-year NHL career before the surgeries.

Seguin would love one more run at a Stanley Cup crown with his longtimeDallas Star teammates. Joe Pavelski and John Klingberg are free agents after next year. Blake Comeau, Andrew Cogliano  and Jamie Oleksiak can become unrestricted free agents this summer.

“No one is blind to our team situation,” Seguin said. “With the cap world and understanding hockey is a business you really don’t know what is going to happen. We definitely know is a big offseason especially for myself coming off all these injuries.”

Tyler Seguin recently launched a limited series of blockchain-backed digital collectibles, also known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), created by Fanaply. Check it out.