Boston Bruins: Revisiting the Tyler Seguin trade

What was the front office’s reasoning for trading the future all-star and what do the Boston Bruins have to show for it anymore?

Before we start, I apologize in advance for bringing this up. As a fellow Boston Bruins supporter I know the anguish this deal caused and how it has and will haunt us for years to come.

Let’s start off by looking at the deal that brought Tyler Seguin to the Boston Bruins.

A pretty solid haul for Phil Kessel, although looking back now he would’ve been a solid fit on David Krejci‘s right wing.  At least Boston Bruins fans can feel happy knowing they got an all-star center in Tyler Seguin and all-star defenceman Dougie Hamilton.

Hamilton is a whole other story, so let’s just stick with the disaster that was the Seguin trade for now.

The Fourth of July in 2013 is a day Boston Bruins fans remember all too well, but wish we couldn’t remember at all. Then general manager Peter Chiarelli pulled the trigger on one of the most lopsided deals in the history of the NHL.

Why Peter why, asks every Boston Bruins fan ever.

There are really two main ideas of thought as to why this trade went down for the Bruins.

First, the guy liked to have fun off the ice. You can’t blame the man for enjoying his time as a young man in Beantown. Let’s not kid ourselves, he’s a bit of a man rocket. But the front office and Chiarelli were by most accounts unhappy with his extracurricular activities. Even though he would dispute that numerous times while speaking to media on the trade.

The second reasoning was whether Tyler Seguin’s work ethic and his style of play fit with the Boston Bruins. He is definitely a skill and finesse player first and was purely that as a young player in Boston. The front office may have wondered if his playstyle would fit on what was a grit grinder roster at the time. Seguin is a natural center but with a logjam of centers at the time, the Bruins had to play him on the wing may be restricting his full potential.

What do the Boston Bruins have to show for the deal today?

Nothing.

Seriously, they have no player or assets that are even distantly related to the deal they made with the Dallas Stars.

Reilly Smith became the best piece of this deal but was swiftly traded away for Jimmy Hayes who was swiftly out of the league.

This trade understandably was the start of the end of Peter Chiarelli’s time as Boston Bruins GM. Forever this deal will be an all-time disastrous one for the Bruins and one fans won’t be soon to forget as we get to see Tyler Seguin thrive in Dallas for years to come.