Dallas Stars Fans Have Become Numb To Tyler Seguin’s Talents
By Tom Dorsa
Fans of the Dallas Stars have seemingly, and horribly, become spoiled by how talented Tyler Seguin is on the American Airlines Center ice.
Sometimes you don’t appreciate or cherish something, someone, or some time until it’s gone. That philosophy has proven true before in terms of Dallas Stars talk, and always remains a valuable saying.
The 2017-18 Dallas Stars have perhaps the best, most well-rounded roster on paper since their 1999 and 2000 Stanley Cup runs. In the National Hockey League’s wide open Western Conference, it’s any team’s game, and Dallas is a, if not the, utmost favorite.
Jamie Benn, John Klingberg, and a load of free agents will lead the Stars into this promising season hoping to return to their Central Division championship form of 2015-16 starting October 5th against the newly introduced Vegas Golden Knights at American Airlines Center.
No, wait, scratch that, I left out a name. You know, the player with the fifth-most points (306) in the NHL over the past four seasons, paced only by Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Benn, and Nicklas Backstrom? It’s Tyler Paul Seguin of Brampton, Ontario. Seguin is, to me, the most offensively talented player on the Dallas Stars, yet the 25-year-old gets no credit for it.
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Ask yourself this: how many players have played for the Dallas Stars in at least 250 games and have averaged a point per game? The answer, to many fans, would take them back a bit, because only current Stars number-one center Tyler Seguin has accomplished this feat. In the era of dominant, athletic goaltending and defensively structured teams, Seguin has consistently performed at a world class level.
Every team in the National Hockey League seems to have a player, coach, or prospect that doesn’t seem to get the attention and respect they deserve. All 31 fanbases can point fingers at figures that are underperforming or underachieving, whether or not the team’s overall record meets expectations. Often times, fans can let emotions get the best of them.
Which, I get; we’re all fans ourselves and the rollercoaster ride of sports will get the best of us from time to time, but stepping back and finding out who your real heroes are in the game you love is important. Often times, reality fails to reach the bar set by unjust expectations, but adjusting these inequitable conjectures makes watching players and teams in general much more fun.
It’s exactly what Tyler Seguin deserves here. Being the second-overall pick in the 2010 Draft, being shipped to Dallas for a fan favorite like Loui Eriksson, and other factors make Seguin the player with perhaps the most unfair predictions in the game today – none of that is justifiable. Tyler Seguin has poured his heart and soul into the best four seasons of his young career in Dallas, and hopefully will continue doing exactly that.
Dallas Stars
Each of the four seasons Seguin has played as part of the Stars, he has posted 70 or more points, including career highs of 37 goals and 84 points in 2013-14. Just Seguin, Crosby, and Backstrom have been 70-point players in each of the last four campaigns. Imagine having numbers that compare with Sidney Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup champ and a two-time Hart Trophy winner, and somehow not being good enough.
Being in the shadow of Jamie Benn, one of the most dynamic players in recent memory, has hurt Seguin, but #91 has arguably been more effective in contributing to the widespread success of the Stars. He has the same points-per-game average as Benn since 2013-14 (1.01) while playing the tougher position (centers have far more defensive responsibilities than wingers do).
Seguin, however, does this all without taking silly penalties. For a guy who isn’t given credit as a mature individual, based solely upon his off-ice behavior, Seguin has taken just 76 penalty minutes as a Dallas Star. His 306 points in contrast to his time in the box gives him a 4.02 point-to-penalty minute ratio, which sits first on the Stars during this duration by a mile; Jason Spezza‘s second-place ratio is a mere 2.21 (175/79).
He’s an offensive wizard, the perfect linemate for the best left wing in hockey, a mature defensive player who is far better in his own zone than the narrative against him wants you to believe, and most importantly, deserving of every dime Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars intend to give him when his looming extension is finalized. Tyler Seguin is a top-five center in hockey, so let’s appreciate him like so.
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It isn’t silly to think that Seguin, with a healthy Benn and a newly-signed Alexander Radulov on his wings next season, can pot 40 goals and potentially be a force in all situations. At any rate, let’s look forward to, and further appreciate, the brilliance of Tyler Seguin.