The Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars will cross paths on Tuesday night in the Lonestar State. It will be the third meeting between the two teams since they engaged in a blockbuster deal on July 4, 2013.
The centerpiece of the deal was 21 year-old Tyler Seguin, the second overall pick of the 2010 NHL draft. Seguin was the type of player that could dazzle you with speed and skill, but demonstrated an unwillingness to battle in the corners for loose pucks and play a more physical brand of hockey. The Brampton, Ontario native often played on the right wing instead of his natural center position with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci down the middle on Boston’s top two lines. He won the Stanley Cup as a rookie in 2011 and participated in another Stanley Cup Final in 2013 where the Bruins fell to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Management expressed their displeasure at Seguin’s compete level and willingness to battle for loose pucks. He was a very talented player, but it became evident he would not succeed in coach Claude Julien’s defensive-minded system.
Canes Warning
The decision was made on Independence Day to ship Seguin to the Dallas Stars for Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser, and prospect Joe Morrow. New Stars general manager Jim Nill made his first big splash for a young Stars club that appeared to be one player away from taking the next step towards the playoffs. The Bruins received a solid, two-way forward in Eriksson who had the ability to light the lamp, scoring at least 25 goals in four of his first seven seasons in Dallas. Smith was a promising young winger while Fraser and Morrow were solid prospects, even though the latter has played in only 15 games with Boston while Fraser now makes a living in Edmonton after Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli waived him earlier this season.
Seguin has been their brightest star playing alongside club captain Jamie Benn since the 2013 summer swap. He is tied with Rick Nash for the league lead in goals with 28 this season and is in the thick of the Hart Trophy discussion as league MVP. His 37 goals last season propelled a second-half Stars comeback which saw them qualify for the postseason after being on the outside looking in at U.S. Thanksgiving. The 23 year-old has scored 65 goals and 136 points in 125 games with a Dallas bunch that relies heavily on Seguin and Benn to carry the attack. It appears the six-foot-one-inch center has found a system under head coach Lindy Ruff that is more accommodating to his offensive talents while learning how to become a complete player in his own end.
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Boston’s return on investment has failed to deliver thus far in the 18 months since the deal. Smith saved the Bruins from scathing criticism after scoring 20 goals and 51 points last year. Eriksson suffered a concussion in Buffalo eight games into last season and proceeded to play in 61 games, recording 10 goals and 37 points. This season, however, it appears the 29 year-old Eriksson is saving Chiarelli from the same harsh criticism, to an extent. Playing alongside fellow countryman Carl Soderberg, the Sweden native has scored 10 goals and 28 points from 45 games this season while showing no lingering signs of his concussion issues. The six-foot Smith has 9 goals and 21 points from 46 games, but is currently mired in a nine-game goal drought while scoring only once in the past 15 games. It is a worrying trend the third-year winger is currently going through while Eriksson has not been the player Boston thought they were getting.
One thing that many fans point to when discussing the Seguin trade is Julien’s system. It has been argued in the eight years of Claude’s tenure in Boston that his “defense-first” mentality does not allow for purely gifted scorers to showcase their abilities. Seguin only scored 56 goals in his 203 games played with Boston while averaging just .60 points-per-game. He was not allowed to be a purely offensive player in a system which defensive responsibility trumps all. Last season’s premature playoff exit at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens demonstrated the need for a Seguin-type scorer in a series which saw the Bruins struggle to generate offense, even though they had finished the regular season in the top-five for goals-per-game. Boston made the Cup Finals twice with Seguin on their roster and is now struggling to consolidate a wild card position instead of contending for a top spot in the Eastern Conference in the second season sans-Seguin.
Praised as a trade that initially benefited both teams, the stark reality is coming to light that the Bruins may have given up on their second overall pick too soon. Seguin’s 65 goals in 125 games stands out more than the combined 49 goals that Eriksson and Smith in 234 collective games they have played since the Fourth of July fireworks in 2013. The biggest lingering question from the deal is whether or not Seguin could have enjoyed the same level of production in Boston as he is currently having in Dallas. His 29 goals and 67 points in 2011-12 offered Bruins fans a preview of things to come, but Julien consistently mentioned his defensive mistakes more than his offensive talents. Truth be told, it was never going to work out here for Tyler unless he morphed into a complete player; something he was not entirely comfortable doing.
Since the two teams made this trade, the Dallas Stars have risen in the West while the Boston Bruins have stumbled from their perch atop the East. Seguin has flourished while Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith have not lived up to the hype so far.
Opinions will forever be split on the trade but as of right now, Dallas has the upper hand on the Bruins until Boston can prove to the hockey world they can play for a Cup without Tyler Seguin.