Tyler Paul Seguin ( ; born January 31, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward and alternate captain for Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Growing up in Whitby, Ontario, Seguin began playing hockey in a house league at the age of five or six. During his major junior career with the Plymouth Whalers, he became the first member of the team to win the Red Tilson Trophy as MVP of the Ontario Hockey League since 1998 and tied for that 2009–10 Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy. Following that season, Seguin was selected second overall in the 2010 NHL entry draft by the Boston Bruins and went on to win the 2011 Stanley Cup in his rookie season.
During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Seguin played for EHC Biel of the Swiss National League A (NLA) and finished the season with 25 goals, the most on the team. Upon returning to the NHL, he played in his second Stanley Cup Final in three seasons before being traded to the Dallas Stars on July 4, 2013.
Early life Seguin was born in Brampton, Ontario in 1992, but his family moved to Whitby when he was young to follow his father's career. His father Paul played college ice hockey for the University of Vermont, where he was roommates with future National Hockey League (NHL) star John LeClair, while his mother Jackie was a centre for the Brampton Canadettes Girls Hockey Association as a child. Tyler and his sisters Candace and Cassidy all played hockey growing up. All three played at centre like their mother, while Paul was a defenceman.
Seguin began playing hockey in a house league at the age of five or six, and developed a love for the sport from a young age. His minor ice hockey career began with the Wildcats of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, and after moving back to Brampton at the age of 10, Seguin played three seasons with the Toronto Nationals of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) alongside future Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner. Seguin also spent four years at St. Michael's College School in Toronto. He had his sights set on playing hockey at the University of Michigan, and believed that St. Michael's would be a good stepping stone towards that goal.
Playing career Amateur The Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) drafted Seguin in the first round, ninth overall, of the 2008 OHL Priority Selection Draft. He chose to join the Whalers rather than attend college as he had originally planned, and began skating on the fourth line in the 2008–09 season. He struggled in his rookie junior ice hockey year, scoring only one goal in the first 17 games of the season. After Mike Vellucci returned to coach the Whalers and moved Seguin to the top two lines, his performance improved, and Seguin finished the season with 67 points in 61 games.
2009–10 proved to be a breakout year for Seguin, who led the league with 14 goals and 25 points in the first 10 games of the season. Eleven of those points came from the first four games of the season, including a hat trick against the London Knights. He finished the season with 106 points (48 goals and 58 assists) in 63 games, and, although the Whalers were swept in the second round of the 2010 playoffs, Seguin became the first member of the team to win the Red Tilson Trophy for most outstanding player in the OHL since David Legwand in 1998. He also tied with Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires for that year's Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy, given to the top scorer in the OHL. At the 2010 CHL Top Prospects Game, Seguin was named the captain for Team Orr, which lost 4–2 to Team Cherry.
Professional (2010–present) Draft Going into the 2010 NHL entry draft, Seguin and Hall were considered the top two available players, with no consensus which one would become the first overall draft pick. Both players were tied for points scoring in the OHL for the previous season, while draft reports tended to emphasize Seguin's speed and Hall's strength. Danny Flynn of Bleacher Report referred to Seguin as an "elite playmaker" who lacked "skill on the defensive end", whereas Hall had proven his "greatness on the big stage", but had "shown a tendency to be selfish at times". Preliminary rankings from the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Seguin the top OHL prospect, and Hall second. Although their positions switched during the midterm rankings, Seguin was named the No. 1 prospect in the bureau's final April rankings. Seguin ended up being selected second overall by the Boston Bruins, while Hall was taken first by the Edmonton Oilers.
Boston Bruins (2010–2013)
Shortly after being drafted, Seguin signed a three-year, $3.75 million entry-level contract with the Bruins, the maximum allowed for a contract of that nature. He made his NHL debut on October 9, 2010, with four shots on goal in a 5–2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. He scored his first professional goal the next day, receiving the puck on a pass from teammate Michael Ryder in the third period and scoring on a breakaway backhanded goal against goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov in a 3–0 shutout of the Coyotes. Seguin participated in the 2011 All-Star festivities during the Rookie Skills Competition. Late in the 2010–11 season, Seguin was quoted as having a desire to model his NHL playing style on that of teammate Patrice Bergeron. After being a healthy scratch for the first two rounds of the 2011 playoffs in the seven game victory against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round and four-game sweep over the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, Seguin was included in the Boston lineup on the third line with Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder to start the third round, against the Tampa Bay Lightning after centreman Patrice Bergeron sustained a mild concussion in the fourth game of the previous round. In the first game of the series on May 14, 2011, Seguin scored a goal on Lightning' goaltender Dwayne Roloson and added an assist on a Johnny Boychuk goal in his first game of the series, his first career playoff game as the Bruins would go on to be defeated by the Lightning 5–2, then followed that up with two goals and two assists (both assists came on goals by Michael Ryder in a 6–5 win the following game). He became the first teenager to score four points in a Stanley Cup playoff game since Trevor Linden did so for the Vancouver Canucks in 1989. The Bruins would eventually go on to defeat the Lightning in seven games to clinch their first appearance in the Final since 1990. On June 15, 2011, Boston game seven of the Finals, earning the Stanley Cup with a 4–3 series victory over the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks. Seguin ended his first playoff run with three goals and four assists for seven points in 13 games.
On November 5, 2011, Seguin scored his first career NHL hat trick against the team that traded the draft pick to the Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs. On November 14, Seguin was named NHL's First Star of the Week for his four goals and two assists that helped the Bruins to three wins in the week. On April 22, 2012, Seguin scored in overtime of game six of the first round in the 2012 playoffs series against the seventh-seeded Washington Capitals that sent the series to a game seven. However, despite another goal from Seguin in game seven, the Bruins would go on to lose the game in overtime and were thus eliminated from the playoffs with Capitals' forward Joel Ward scoring the winning goal. He finished his breakout 2011–12 season as the Bruins' leading scorer with 67 points (29 goals, 38 assists) in 81 games along with two goals and one assist for three points in all seven playoff games.
During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Seguin was one of many Bruins who signed European hockey contracts, striking a deal with the EHC Biel hockey club of the Swiss National League A on September 21, 2012. He made his Swiss League debut on September 30, centreing Ahren Spylo and Eric Beaudoin on the second line and scoring an assist in a 6–3 loss to the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. Seguin's first goal with the team came three days later, in the first period of his second appearance, a 2–1 win over EV Zug. Less than one month later, on October 24, Seguin recorded his second professional hat trick, and his first NLA hat trick, in a 5–4 shootout win over HC Ambri-Piotta. By November 27, he had accumulated 20 goals in 20 games, the most of any NHL lockout export to the NLA. On December 28, Seguin told NBC Sports Boston that, after representing Team Canada at the 2012 Spengler Cup, he would leave EHC Biel and return to the Bruins. In 29 NLA games that season, Seguin scored 25 goals and 15 assists for 40 points. He also befriended his teammate and fellow NHL star Patrick Kane, who returned to the Chicago Blackhawks upon the conclusion of the lockout. After the lockout ended, the 2012–13 NHL season began, with 48 intra-conference games played beginning on January 19, 2013. Seguin played all 48 regular-season games with the Bruins, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points while playing the bulk of the season on the first line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. His performance began to waver during the 2013 playoffs, however, scoring only one goal and three assists in his first 12 postseason games, and he was moved from the second to the third line with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly, with Jaromír Jágr taking his place on the first and/or second. The Bruins advanced to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, but ultimately fell to the Presidents' Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks in six games.
Dallas Stars (2013–present)
On July 4, 2013, just ten days after the Bruins game six loss in the Stanley Cup Final, Seguin was part of a massive seven-player trade that sent him, Peverley, and defenceman Ryan Button to the Dallas Stars in exchange for forward Loui Eriksson and prospects Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith, and Matt Fraser. Prior to the trade, rumors had begun to circulate that the Bruins were displeased with Seguin's supposed hard-partying lifestyle, particularly when his on-ice performance began to suffer during the playoffs. General manager Peter Chiarelli spoke in a press conference on July 4 to assert that, although the trade was "not a strict on-ice decision", but that concerns of Seguin's behavior were more related to "focus, just about little things, about preparing to play, it was nothing about extracurricular activities". The 2013–14 season saw Seguin become fast friends with captain Jamie Benn both on and off the ice. On November 14, 2013, Seguin had his first career four-point game, scoring two goals and two assists in a 7–3 rout of the Calgary Flames. On November 29, Seguin suffered what appeared to be a concussion in a 2–1 SO loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, causing him to miss the next two games. At the conclusion of the season which saw him end with 37 goals, 47 assists and 84 points, leading his team in all three categories and playing in 80 games, Seguin came in sixth overall in voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the "player judged most valuable to his team". He was also nominated for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, given for leadership and humanitarianism; the award ultimately went to Edmonton Oilers defenceman and ex-Bruins teammate Andrew Ference. Seguin's production helped the Stars narrowly qualify for the 2014 playoffs as the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference, marking the first time since 2008 where the Stars as a team qualified for a playoff spot. Seguin and the Stars would eventually lose in the first round of the playoffs in six games by the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks.