April 16, 2010
Seguin's future could be in black and gold
by Kirk Luedeke/
Tyler Seguin (photo: Walt Dmoch/Plymouth Whalers)
Because of his competitive nature, Tyler Seguin has his sights set on being the No. 1 overall selection in the NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles on June 25.
However, if he ends up going to the Boston Bruins, who currently own the second overall selection, Seguin makes it clear that he would consider it an honor and would be thrilled to wear the black and gold.
“I want to go to the team that really wants me,” Seguin told hockeyjournal.com recently. “First overall would be dream come true, but it’s not my main goal, so if I’m not first then I want to go to Boston. One of my good friends has told me all about what a great city Boston is, and it would be exciting to become a part of the hockey tradition there.”
Seguin, 18, is a highly skilled centerman with good size (6-foot-1, 186 pounds) for the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, and had a monster season, tying with Windsor’s Taylor Hall for the league regular season scoring crown with 106 points (63 games) in just his second major junior campaign.
Lauded as a complete player who does everything well and brings a disciplined two-way game to the ice, Seguin’s 48 goals also serve as a testament to his finishing ability, something he targeted specifically as an area to improve on prior to the year.
“I wanted to get 50 goals, 50 assists and 100 points,” he said. “I came close to achieving all three of those, so while I see myself as a playmaker who can pass the puck and set up my teammates, I’ve developed the confidence to take the shot when it’s there and try and put the puck in the back of the net.”
Seguinand Hall have been in a dead heat all season in vying for top draft honors in June, and the Whalers captain edged his high-flying rival when the NHL’s Central Scouting Service published its rankings earlier this month, with Seguin sitting on top of the North American skaters list. Hall was right behind him at No. 2.
“As an opponent, Taylor is a great player,” Seguin said. “He’s a different player, though. I’m a centerman and he’s a winger. He can fly and plays a different style than I do. I think the media has made it out like we’re archenemies, but that’s not true. I’ve been around him (in the same dressing room) a couple of times this year and we get along fine. We’re both very competitive, and I think that brings out the best in both of us.”
Although Seguin’s season ended in disappointing fashion, with a second consecutive second-round ouster at the hands of Hall’s Spitfires (this time in a four-game sweep), the elite prospect gained a great deal from his experiences and coaching in both regular and postseason play.
“Coach (Mike) Vellucci and coaches (Joe) Stefan and (Brian) Sommariva have been great,” Seguin said. “Coach Vellucci was especially helpful last year, when I was in my first OHL season, and he would have a lot of little talks with me about what I was doing and how I could be even better for the team. He was the one who told me that my NHL dream could become a goal; he said that I had the tools and enough talent to get there, and then pushed me to play my best. I can’t say enough about how great everyone has been here in this organization.”
Another major force in Seguin’s life and development in hockey has been his father, Paul, who captained the University of Vermont in the late ‘80’s, where his teammates included John LeClair (St. Alban’s, Vt.).
“My whole life, even when I was younger, he’s been pushing me in a very positive way,” the younger Seguin said of his dad. “Although he didn’t make it to the NHL, he taught me about being passionate for the game, but having fun with the role I play for my team.”
Another important shaping influence Paul Seguin had on his son was teaching him to be unselfish with the puck, urging him to strive for collective success over individual accolades.
“My whole life, my dad’s been saying, ‘Make everyone around you look good; if you can make other players better, then the team is going to be successful.’ I’ve just tried to live that by going out and dishing the puck and being a playmaker.”
Seguinto Edmonton with the first overall pick makes sense because he’s a top-flight center who could likely combine with some of that organization’s top young players on the wings to form a potent scoring force. However, with the race so close, should Hall’s name be up on the board when Boston picks after the Oilers, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli made it clear that the team would be thrilled with the prospect of bringing Seguin into the fold.
“Tyler Seguin is a right-shot center and can play both wings,” said Chiarelli earlier this week. “He’s got a terrific wrist shot, terrific release. He’s got dynamic speed and playmaking ability. He’s a cross between a (Steven) Stamkos and a (Pat) LaFontaine. I understand that’s lofty company, but he’s a terrific young offensive player.
“He’s a natural center, but he’s skilled enough and fast enough to play both sides.”
The official announcement came that Boston had the second overall selection came at the draft lottery earlier this week, thanks to the trade that sent Phil Kessel to Toronto. The Maple Leafs finished with the second-worst record in the NHL.
There is some irony, then, that the Bruins could potentially land the Brampton, Ont.-born Seguin, who grew up in the Toronto suburb rooting for the Leafs as a kid, with the very pick that might have seen him wearing the team’s blue and white sweater he dreamed of as a child.
When apprised of that irony, Seguin was nonplussed: “It’s not something I really think about,” he said. “Wherever I go, it will work out; it is meant to be. If it happens to be Boston, then that’s something I’m really excited about. Again, I want to go to the team that wants me the most.”
For now, Seguin’s objectives are to continue to get in shape not only for the next hockey season, but to prepare for the NHL’s Scouting Combine in the last week of May, an event which will consist of a battery of physical tests and assessments, followed by what is normally a pretty grueling interview process with prospective employers.
When asked about what he plans to tell NHL teams who are likely to ask him why they should invest a high pick in him, Seguin didn’t miss a beat.
“The main thing is my improvement level,” he said. “I came in as the ninth overall OHL pick (in 2008); I wasn’t No. 1 or 2, and it took me 14 or 15 games to score my first OHL goal. But, I finished strong as a rookie, with 67 points (21 goals).
“This year, I took it to another level and made even more of an improvement, so I think I’ve showed that willingness to work hard and improve and will keep doing so.”
When he is drafted first or second, it will only serve as the first major symbolic step in a potential NHL future, but Seguin feels he has a chance to be in the big show as early as next season.
“I think I have the tools,” he said, after answering in the affirmative when asked if he thought he could play in the NHL next season. “Come summer, I’m going to keep working to add some pounds (to my frame). All I can ask for is the opportunity (to play in the NHL). If that opportunity comes, I think I can take advantage of it.”
Kirk Luedeke can be reached at feedback@hockeyjournal.com.
