Stars forward Tyler Seguin will welcome his former team, the Boston Bruins, to AmericanĀ Airlines CenterĀ in DallasĀ this week.Ā
SeguinĀ prefers to think of the Bruins as his alma mater, though.
"Sometimes it almost feels like me being in Boston was like being in college," Seguin told Boston Globe columnistĀ Fluto Shinzawa this week.Ā "Itās different. This is the type of team I was supposed to be drafted to more than into a Stanley Cup team. It doesnāt happen like that. This is where I was supposed to grow."
Where Boston was a place for Seguin to experiment,Ā with immature tweets, playing on the wingĀ and dealing with unsavory rumors,Ā Dallas has become a place for Seguin to excel.Ā
The 22-year-old center has become nigh unguardable at evenĀ strength, and deadly from the left circle on the powerĀ play.Ā Seguin is currently tied for a share of the NHL lead in goal scoring, and is a bona fide Art Ross Trophy contender at the season's midpoint.Ā
Beyond his offensive contributions, Seguin leads all Stars players in even-strength iceĀ time per game and is far and away the best Dallas center by shot attempt differential. Though the Stars have some rather significant defensive flaws, theĀ club is dominating the puck and outscoring opponents by a wide margin when Seguin is on the ice at 5-on-5.
Even so, Seguin's new organization believesĀ the star forward has more to give.
"We're going to push him,"Ā Stars general manager Jim Nill explained to Shinzawa. "We're not going to let him off the hook. We're not going to let him cheat. We think he can be one of the best players in the league.Ā
"We're going to make him accountable.Ā There's going to be times he's not going to like it. He might get sat down a couple shifts because he's not doing it right. We might have some meetings behind the scenes to say, 'Hereās what you've got to do. You're not doing this right.'Ā The great thing about Tyler is he listens to that and he accepts it."
Before he was traded out of Boston - for a large package of useful, but mid-tier pieces - Seguin was blasted by Bruins management in a behind-the-scenes video that was madeĀ public. It would seem that Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli and Co.Ā weren't nearly as convinced of Seguin's willingness to learn as Nill is.
Perhaps the Bruins' brassĀ wasn'tĀ wrong about Seguin's maturity level at the time. MaybeĀ Seguin hasĀ just developed as a professional since his time skipping morning classes in one of the world's greatest university towns.
"I donāt think there will ever not be that feeling of motivation or proving people wrong,"Ā Seguin admitted. "Just with how everything went down once I got traded. Everything that came out after it, all the rumors and everything. It's definitely something that drove me. I can't hide from that."
