No Surprises: Boston Nabs Seguin With Second Overall

Tyler Seguin was selected by the Bruins with the second overall pick.

Taylor or Tyler?

That was the talk among fans the moment the Bruins found themselves out of the playoffs on May 14th. It was almost a relief that the end to a season that put B’s fans through more misery than their suddenly-winning-hearts could handle would present the club with the luxury of picking second overall in the 2010 NHL Draft without having to go through the rigors of a non-playoff contending season.

For Boston, while the pre-draft chatter was engaging, informative, and chock full of (unrealistic) rumors, the debates and reports drawn up and argued relentlessly as to why X was better than Y were quickly silenced when the Oilers selected Taylor Hall after months of speculation, making Boston’s choice an automatic to grab 18-year old forward Tyler Seguin.

Tying with Hall for the OHL’s lead in points with 106 in 2009-10, Seguin, who was in just his second season in the league, is likely to instantaneously join the forward-depleted Bruins in 2009-10 as a center. Despite Pierre McGuire‘s belief that Seguin isn’t ready for the NHL (this best sums up my response to that notion), both GM Peter Chiarelli and newly-appointed President Cam Neely believe that Seguin will be one of the 23 suiting them up at the TD Garden this upcoming season.

And for good reason.

Seguin had involvement of 47% of his club’s goal production in 2009-10 and on a team starved for offense like the Boston Bruins, another year in the OHL could be a potential year wasted for a team that could win in the present.

Ranked number one overall by Central Scouting’s final rankings regardless of Hall’s selection, the answer as to whether or not the Bruins got the better player will remain to be answered until at least October but here are a few things to take away from Seguin’s drafting into the Hub.

Firstly, the 18-year old beat out Hall for the Player of the Year honors this past season and has wowed scouts and players alike with his unpredictable yet dynamic offensive skill-set. Known as a stronger two-way player than Hall, Seguin has been known to try and model his game after his childhood hero, Steve Yzerman–a player known for his heart and willingness to get his hands dirty for the sake of his teams success.

Another potentially beneficial gain for Seguin’s growth will be the fact that he’s coming into Boston, a team loaded with NHL-capable centers, likely lessening the pressure he will face upon arrival. However, that could all change with one potential trade.

Over-crowded down the middle, the Bruins’ front-office is reportedly looking to move one of their NHL-proven centers.

With the automatic untouchable being Czech-born pivot David Krejci, an extension likely for the resurgent Patrice Bergeron, the addition of Gregory Campbell, and the still-fresh trade of Vladimir Sobotka to the St. Louis Blues, the B’s will likely look to move three-time team top-point guy Marc Savard.

Savard, who suffered a grade-two concussion in early March only to come back and score the game-winning goal in Game 1 of the second round before vanishing again, seems to be on the outs among Bruins front-office heads and rumored to be even willing to waive his no-trade clause if the right trade does in fact present itself. Rumored to be willing to go to just three teams, one of which being in salary-cap hell (Blackhawks), and other two being within the Northeast Division (Ottawa and Toronto), are the Bruins best suited by hanging out to “Savy” or pulling the trigger on a trade?

While progress remains to be seen on the Bruins’ attempt to move Savard, looking at things in the big picture seems to tell us that Seguin will in fact be relied upon as a player of value to the Boston Bruins next season.

I’ll have more draft notes, Sobotka trade talk, and rumor-mongering later on.

——————————————————————————————–

Say Hey In Under 140 Characters: Follow Ty on Twitter!

“Facebook Us!”: Add the HockeyIndependent Bruins Facebook profile as a friend today!