Tyler Seguin trade paying significant playoff dividends for surging Bruins

Tyler Seguin had one hell of a season. 

The former second-overall pick finished fourth in league scoring, leading the Dallas Stars with 37 goals and 47 assists after being shipped out of Boston last summer. 

But now, Seguin is left booking tee times and enjoying the fruits of being an extremely wealthy 22-year-old while the Bruins, fuelled by the commodities they received in return, are sitting on the precipice of their third Eastern Conference finals appearance in four seasons. 

At the time of the trade, general manager Peter Chiarelli was torched; now the decision is paying significant postseason dividends.

Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, and Matt Fraser - three quarters of the price to acquire Tyler Seguin - have combined for seven goals, 12 points, and a plus-13 rating through 10 postseason games (including four points in Saturday's 4-2 Game 5 victory), with three game-winning goals. 

The Bruins are loaded with talent up and down the roster, but Boston is a hockey machine proven greater than the sum of its parts. As it turns out, the sum acquired to part with Tyler Seguin outweighs the budding superstar's mastery over the regular season.