The Dallas Stars announced a contract extension for Tyler Seguin on Thursday morning just before departing for training camp. And while this announcement may be a bit overdue, the extension came with some pretty great timing.
Timing something perfectly can be one of the best feelings in the world.
Whether it’s scoring a game winner with zeroes on the clock, arriving at work right on schedule, or even walking out the door at the exact moment that your friend or Uber arrives to pick you up, there’s something about that sense of timeliness that ultimately satisfies.
And when things aren’t timed properly, it can lead to frustration and disappointment. Missing the beginning of a movie or game because of traffic or sleeping in and missing a doctor’s appointment are some examples of where this frustration can spawn.
Unfortunately, the Dallas Stars are no stranger to bad timing. What’s even more unfortunate is their extensive list of mistimed atrocities from the past few seasons.
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For example, losing Tyler Seguin to an achilles injury just weeks before the start of what looked to be a promising and deep Stanley Cup Playoffs run in 2016 didn’t help their cause. In the 2016 offseason, management’s lack of promptly addressing needs and holes in the lineup resulted in a 34-37-11 record and a lottery pick in the 2017 Draft (though the results of that lottery were quite promising). And we cannot forget to mention the catastrophic meltdown in the final month of the 2017-18 season that singlehandedly removed the team from the playoff race.
And through the past 10 weeks, it very much looked as though Dallas would once again dangerously mistime something. That something involved negotiating a long-term contract extension with elite center Tyler Seguin.
On July 1, 2018, the free agency market opened up, giving the Stars a chance to improve their team with the help of outside resources. Those improvements would hopefully put them in a better position to compete and contend in the 2018-19 season.
But it was also the first day that the team could contact and begin negotiations on an extension with Seguin’s company. And while they added new players, no new deal was announced.
A week passed, followed by two more before any sliver of news was divulged. Towards the end of July, GM Jim Nill assured the fans and media that conversations were ongoing and the two sides were hard at work in the negotiation process. For a player of Seguin’s caliber, this was expected.
But in late August, Seguin stepped in front of the media for the first time since exit interview day and countered Nill’s reports. While attending Biosteel Camp, the center noted that he was disappointed with the lack of talks between his side and the Stars and was hoping that he would have had a new extension to talk about by that time.
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As Seguin arrived back in Dallas and rumors of new contract talks began to heat up yet again, Stars fans held their breath. Would a new deal be done by opening night? If so, what would the contract look like? And if an extension wasn’t in place, how much would it impact the 2018-19 season?
All of those questions were either answered or put to rest on Thursday morning when the Dallas Stars officially signed Seguin to an eight-year extension with an AAV of $9.85 million. While the contract won’t go into play until the beginning of the 2019-20 season, it’s great to know that one of the team’s main cornerstones and keys to future success is locked in for most of the next decade.
But this was also a perfectly-timed deal.
Wait, what?
For the past two and a half months, the majority of the Dallas Stars population excessively questioned and openly criticized the team’s lack of success in getting a deal done. Many expected it to be done on July 1 after promising reports from Jim Nill on exit interview day. Others at least hoped it would be done by the end of July.
"“I hope by July 1 we are going to know where it’s at. If something doesn’t happen July 1, I don’t want any panic out there. I’m banking on getting something done. I’m pretty confident that we will get something done.” –Jim Nill, on the Seguin extension during exit interview day"
And when Seguin expressed his frustration in late August, an uproar occurred. Fans continued to count the days that had gone by since the first of July as well as the quickly shrinking number of days before the season opener.
But that’s all over, and it’s been put to rest at the perfect time.
The timing of this deal is solid for a few reasons.
On the one hand, the Dallas Stars have yet to start training camp. Yes, it is scheduled to kick off in less than 24 hours. But the fact that Seguin will be able to enter camp with long-term security is terrific. The preseason and regular season are still around the corner, so there’s time to let it all digest.
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One common theme that both Nill and Seguin shared was their desire to get an extension in place and signed before the 2018-19 season began. So, that’s a big accomplishment for both sides.
In addition, it also gives the fans and organization one less thing to worry about going into the year. As the NHL has seen over the past few seasons with players like Steven Stamkos and John Tavares, letting a high-profile and superstar player play out the final year of his contract without any security can be a dangerous game. It weighs on the fans, it weighs on the player itself, and it weighs heavily on the team to surpass expectations and turn in an ultimately successful year.
Seguin won’t have extension talks and worries hanging over his head, and Nill and the Stars won’t have to focus on them, either. Instead, it will give them a chance to focus solely on something much more important: getting the team past its recent inconsistencies and back into the postseason.
And finally, this move was perfectly-timed because it now provides a strong spark. Now, it was always set to provide a spark. Locking down a player with Seguin’s abilities and potential would be huge for any team.
But if the Stars had signed him to an extension back on July 1, the hype and excitement would have all but disappeared. Fans would be content after their celebrations and would only be focused on training camp by now.
By signing him literally moments before the year begins, the Dallas Stars have created a raucous atmosphere just in time for the season to begin.
So excited and thankful to be in Dallas for the next nine years. Let’s get this started! Off to Boise for camp, can’t wait to get to work. #GoStars
— Tyler Seguin (@tseguinofficial) September 13, 2018
Seguin is excited to call Dallas home for the next nine years and put the best years of his career towards helping the Stars win a Stanley Cup. Dallas Stars are excited to have their no. 1 center and one of their strongest leaders back on board and away from drama. The front office is excited to get him locked down on a team-friendly deal (yes, $9.85 million is team-friendly when it’s Seguin we’re talking about). And finally, the fans are excited to have one of their favorite superstars secured.
It’s a win-win-win-win scenario, in other words. And now, there is a new injection of excitement to help propel the team into what should be a very interesting season. The entire organization, from the press box, to the seats, and down onto the ice now has something promising and over-the-top thrilling to rest in as they prepare for a battle in the season ahead.
So, fans can complain all they want about this being 10 weeks overdue. But at the end of the day, the contract is done and arrived right on time. Tyler Seguin is a Dallas Star until the end of the 2026-27 season. The team can now look forward to flashy and consistent goal scoring, incredible skating and puck handling skills, and an overall winning and determined attitude sitting at the top of the lineup for the long-term future.
And at the end of the day, there’s nothing better than perfect timing.