The time has come. Tyler Seguin is expected to make his return tonight against the Nashville Predators. The last time Seguin played was back on December 1st before suffering a hip injury that has kept him out for the past four and a half months. The return comes at the perfect time, as the Stars have lost their past six games and have seemingly lost all momentum heading into a postseason matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, which will be no easy contest.
Seguin's return could be a much-needed "reset" for this team. Although he has been present with the team for the past few months, providing mentorship and leadership, having a player battling out there with you on the ice resonates differently. Although it hasn't been confirmed he is returning tonight, the goal of his recovery process was to get him on the ice for at least some regular-season games before the playoffs begin. With Seguin skating with the team for a while now without issue, it would be fair to assume tonight's the night we see him.
With his presumed return, Stars' head coach, Pete DeBoer, will need to do some experimenting tonight with the lines, as in-season acquisition Mikael Granlund has fit in quite nicely along Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment. It's not a terrible problem, but something that you'd like to have figured out going into such an important series beginning this weekend, as experimenting with lines certainly comes with some risk.
It would be hard for me to see DeBoer immediately breaking apart the second line right away. It seems to me Seguin would best be slotted into the third line, which has seen Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston, and Mavrik Bourque headline the past couple of games. It will give him an opportunity to ease back into game action without having to be "the guy."
Having said that, it would be unrealistic to expect the point-per-game production he was giving the team before he got hurt. Still, for anyone following this team long enough, the point-per-game impact, who knows that his impact reaches far beyond goals and assists. I think Seguin could eventually move back into the second line, but it would likely take an injury to another player for that to be considered. He's a great depth option on a very loaded offense.
With Seguin returning, defensemen Alexander Petrovic and Lian Bichsel will likely be candidates sent to Cedar Park to appease the cap space restrictions. However, we may see them again come the playoffs once the cap restriction goes away.