The date is July 4th, 2013, and the announcement that was just made has left all of Boston utterly confused. The rising star wearing black and gold, Tyler Seguin was just sent off to the Dallas Stars for virtually chump change.
What would happen to the hockey world if this trade never happened? What if Tyler Seguin had remained with the Boston Bruins and even extended his contract to still be on the roster in 2019?
Would he be the first-line center and bonafide stud he is in Dallas? Or would he be buried in the line-up, sticking as a bottom-six, scoring center with Joakim Nordstrom and Danton Heinen on his wings?
How about Rich Peverley? While his story was tragic by all means, would he have had that same situation in Boston that would lead to his immediate retirement? Or would Peverley still be playing today?
How about Dallas? Where would they stand? Sure, Reilly Smith was good, but would he wind up in Vegas, just like he did after moving to Boston?
How about Loui Eriksson? Would he last in Dallas or would he, too, move on and join his current team out west in Vancouver? Joe Morrow has been a journeyman on the blueline, but would he have found a consistent role within the Stars roster if he had remained there?
While there are a lot of different situations and scenarios that come out of a ‘what if’ situation, there’s nothing quite like the Tyler Seguin trade being wiped from NHL history. It led to the Bruins missing the playoffs two years in a row.
Soon thereafter, former Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was fired. He wound up going to Edmonton and trading Taylor Hall. Would all these things league-wide happen if this trade didn’t take place?
If they don’t happen, then where would Edmonton stand? And Dallas? What about Boston? Would Chiarelli still be Boston’s GM? This is all too much to take in, and it would overload everyone’s brains tracking all this information down.
So let’s simply look at the Boston Bruins’ perspective with Tyler Seguin, ignoring every other piece of the puzzle.