Ultimately, the Bruins weren’t incredibly busy at the NHL entry draft, at least not in terms of dealing players from their current roster. According to reports, however, they could have been.
With a pretty deep top 10 or 15 picks, the B’s were reportedly listening to offers in an attempt to move into the first round and grab a high first-round pick. One player whose name was connected to those draft talks was forward Tyler Seguin.
Nothing came of it, though, and Seguin remains a Bruin — for now. Some felt the trade rumors were leaked by Boston in an attempt to motivate the 21-year-old, who hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations since getting a new contract after being the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft. While the trade rumors may have been a coy attempt to get Seguin going, B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli was much more direct when talking about Seguin on Sunday night.
“He’s got to commit his mind and focus to the one task at hand,” Chiarelli said, according to Boston.com. “He’s got to become more of a professional. You know what? I can say that about a lot of 21-year-olds. I know he got criticized on the periphery and all that stuff. He did. He’s got to commit to being a professional and focusing on the game. Simple as that. He does that, we don’t expect him to be crashing and banging. Just play your game.”
Chiarelli admitted he had taken calls on Seguin, saying he had even told Seguin and his agent that he was listening to offers. There was a “deluge of calls” that led to a few discussions with teams, Chiarelli also admitted. In the end, though, the Bruins apparently didn’t get the right deal for the young forward.
However, some of the best deals are the ones you never make, and maybe just the chance of being moved is enough to get Seguin pointed in the right direction.
“I hope it does,” Chiarelli said, according to Boston.com. “If it doesn’t, I’d be more concerned. We gave Tyler a big contract because he projects and he had a good performance. I would expect that going forward.
Seguin is coming off of a woeful postseason in which he scored just one goal and had seven assists in the team’s 22 playoff games. Seguin had scored five goals in his previous 20 playoff games, including three in the team’s Stanley Cup run in 2011.
After registering 29-38-67 totals in 81 games in 2011-12, Seguin had just 16 goals and 16 assists in 48 games this year. Starting next season, Seguin will be making $5.75 million per year after signing a six-year contract extension in September.
