Tyler Seguin was chosen by the Boston Bruins in the first round(2nd overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. His draft pick was part of the Phil Kessel trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs. (This trade also netted us Dougie Hamilton and Jared Knight.)Tyler was regarded as the top player in the OHL(Ontario Hockey League.) Tyler had won both the Red Tilson(outstanding player), and the Eddie Powers Memorial(leading scorer) trophies that year.
Tyler Seguin signed an entry-level contract with the Bruins on August 3, 2010.(Happy anniversary Tyler!) # 18 made his NHL debut on October 9, 2010 in a 5-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. Seguin scored his first NHL goal the very next night. His first point came midway through the third period. Seguin got the puck on a feed from Michael Ryder and scoring on a breakaway backhand goal against the Phoenix Coyotes in a 3-0 shutout win.
Seguin was invited to participate in the 2011 All Star break in the Rookie Skills Competition. He had racked up eleven goals, and eleven assists that season. He had accrued eighteen minutes and penalties and had a plus/minus of -4. The numbers were decent, but not what could be called a breakout season.
Then came the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tyler was marked as a healthy scratch for the first two rounds of the 2011 NHL Playoffs. Seguin was put into the starting lineup in the Eastern Conference Championships after Patrice Bergeron(the player Seguin wanted to model his career around.) sustained a concussion. Seguin scored a goal and added an assist in his first game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He proceeded to follow that with two goals and two assists in the second. He became the first teenager to score four points in a NHL playoff game since 1989. (Trevor Lindon was the last person to achieve this.) Seguin had become one of the break out stars of the playoffs. Seguin and fellow rookie phenom Brad Marchand help lead the Bruins to a seven game series against the President’s Cup winning Vancouver Canucks. In case anyone forgot…Here’s the last few moments of Game 7.
On November 5, 2011, Seguin achieved his first NHL career hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs. (The Kessel trade coming back to haunt the Leafs.)On November 14, 2011, Seguin was named NHL’s “First Star of the Week”. His six points in that week(four goals, two assists) had led the Bruins to three wins. Tyler Seguin led the Bruin in scoring through the regular season. His sixty-seven points (29 goals – 7 game winners, 38 assists), and plus/minus of +34(second only to Bergeron.) proved he was up to the challenge of a NHL career.
On April 22nd, 2012, Seguin scored his first goal (and only game winner) of the playoffs in Game six of the Bruins’ Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. In the series against the Washington Capitals it went the distance. Seguin scored again in Game seven. Sadly, the Bruins would go on to lose the game in OT, and were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A week later Seguin underwent surgery on his left hand. The injury had come from a game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. His rehab had progressed on schedule and after an amazing rookie playoff year, and a team leading sophmore one… his junior year should be explosive.