Now the Bruins just hope he can continue to excel against NHL competition when their prized prospect makes his regular-season debut against Phoenix in Prague on Saturday.
Expectations are high for the No. 2 pick of the 2010 draft, and with those elevated expectations comes plenty of pressure. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has tried to downplay the hype surrounding the 18-year-old, but he also understands the excitement his arrival has generated and the pressure he will face to produce right away.
"With any young player of his profile, that's something you think about," said Chiarelli before leaving for Europe last week. "These guys that come in, you heard [Bruins president] Cam [Neely] talk about the interest in the team this summer, that was spurred on in part by our drafting a high-profile guy.
"He has to learn to deal with it," added Chiarellli. "But we've got a good group of forwards where we don't have to expect too much from him."
Seguin is in an unusual position. Most early first-round picks join struggling or rebuilding teams and are immediately thrust into a prominent position. But Seguin is joining a Bruins squad that's reached the second round of the playoffs each of the last two years. Boston has established forwards like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Mark Recchi and Nathan Horton already in place, plus Marc Savard and Marco Sturm expected to return from injuries later in the season.
So Seguin won't have to carry the offense, but the Bruins do expect him to carry his own weight.
"We want him to contribute," said Chiarelli. "We want him to do the things he's capable of doing, and at the same time he has to have that defensive component to his game. We've seen progress with him. It's the same with a lot of these young guys. They take a while, but we've seen progress and we're happy where's he's at."
For his part, Seguin isn't overly concerned with external expectations.
"I'm not looking at it like that," said Seguin early in camp. "I'm just having fun with it and taking it all in.
"Since the draft I've been saying that I'm confident and comfortable to play in the NHL," added Seguin. "Obviously I've made little strides and you have to adapt to all different stuff in the NHL. That comes with it. Right now, I feel like I fit in out there."
The Bruins are still deciding exactly where he will fit into their lineup. He's played both wing and center in camp, and looks likely to remain in the middle, at least as long as Savard is sidelined.
"You look at it two ways," said Chiarelli. "One, if he's on the wing, and he may end up at center for a short time period, but if he's on the wing [he's] on a higher line, versus at center on a lower line. So your matchups are a little easier, but center is a tougher position, especially for a young kid. He's got more down-low responsibilities and you have to help out the D a lot. It depends on your matchups. Maybe you end up switching it up at home and on the road. Right now it looks like he's going to get a shot at center."
And he'll get a shot to live up to the lofty expectations that come with being such a highly-regarded prospect, no matter how much the Bruins try to minimize that pressure.
"I've tried to downplay it, but it's hard to downplay," said Chiarelli. "He's the No. 2 pick overall, so he has to deal with it and he has been dealing with it."
