Now 19, Bruins’ Seguin should start fulfilling some of his promise
Seguin/By S. Bradley
There’s one race Tyler Seguin always beats Jeff Skinner in.
Yesterday, the Bruins rookie did it again, as he turned the next age number three months before the Carolina first-year standout.
So now Seguin will face his first NHL, post-All-Star-break stretch run as a 19-year-old. It all starts tonight, when he takes on his former minor hockey teammate Skinner in Raleigh in the last regular-season match-up between the Bruins and Hurricanes this season.
This season, Seguin’s Bruins have gotten the better of the Hurricanes in two of three games. But Skinner has put up three points (one goal), while Seguin has been shut out. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as Skinner leads all rookies in assists (22) and points (40) and sits second or tied for second in goals (18), power-play points (13), power-play assists (9) and power-play goals (4). Seguin, meanwhile, has been held to just 16 points (seven goals) in 48 games, and he hasn’t scored a goal in eight games.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the pair of Ontario natives. As the No. 2 overall pick from last June, Seguin figured to make the NHL roster and be a complementary part. But the Bruins were hoping for a somewhat faster adjustment to the NHL and a little more offensive contribution from the speedster. Skinner, on the other hand, was taken five picks later at No. 7. He was considered a longer shot to make the NHL leap, as evidenced by his presence in the back part of the bio section of the Carolina media guide.
Instead, Skinner has shown the skills, maturity and adaptability to make his first pro season a smashing success and put himself at the top of the Calder Trophy race along with San Jose’s Logan Couture.
The early advantage Skinner has on Seguin, however, doesn’t mean that two years from now we’ll be ripping the Bruins for passing on Skinner. Seguin and Taylor Hall were the hands-down top two prospects last June, according to almost everyone. And we’ve certainly seen flashes of the type of player Seguin can be down the road. Skinner, while great, has walked into a situation where his team didn’t make the playoffs last season and had job openings. Seguin, as we knew all along, was going to be the fourth center or among the bottom four wingers in Boston was fully healthy this season.
We’ll learn a lot more about Seguin’s ability to handle more responsibility and make developmental strides at the NHL level as these final 2 1/2 months of the regular season unfold, especially if Marc Savard is out for the long term. There should be plenty of new opportunities for him to shine.
Regardless of how Seguin and Skinner stack up against one another right now or 15 years down the road, the Bruins made the right choice on draft day. They’ll look more correct though if Seguin starts to become more of the player they projected him to be this season starting tonight.
I’m sure everyone knows that C.J can turn a 30 goal scorer into a 20 goal scorer. I’ve watched Seguin since he was 16 in the ‘O’ and he’s playing like he’s scared to death to make a mistake. He’s a guy that has to play some minutes to perform and be able to create. In CJ’s circle the wagons approach he can’t wait to get the puck off his stick and clear the zone and make sure he keeps his man in front of him. I hope this year is not wasted on a talented young kid who must be frustrated beyond belief at his lack of playing time. Meanwhile Skinner, Couture and Hall are playing regularly and learning on the fly. I do realize he’s on a contending team to those who are delusional. Well here’s hoping cycling the puck will finally win a Championship but somehow I doubt it. We should settle for nothing less than an Eastern Conference Banner or it’s time to clean house.
Can we just put him ob Edmonton on loan or something? Is that possible in The NHL?
Linda -I completely agree! Seguin gets benched for a turnover at the opposing blue line yet I saw several other B’s make turnovers in their own defensive zone. Time to let the kid play, take his lumps & learn. If he gets the chance to learn now he could be a real asset in the playoffs.
Bojangles-I think he looks lost too, and miserable most of the time. When he said after New Year’s that he made a resolution to try to find his confidence again and remember what he enjoys about hockey, I thought that was very telling. He looks terrified to make mistakes out there because unlike all the other players with turnovers last night, he knows he’s going to be benched for them. Marchand, Lucic, Krejci, Recchi, etc. all had multiple turnovers last night, but Seguin was the one with his butt on the bench. It seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy – he’s terrified to make mistakes, so he makes even more mistakes. If CJ has so little confidence in the kid, why didn’t they let him go back to his junior team? He might not have a lot to learn there, but he’d get minutes and conditioning instead of just sitting on the bench for most of every game. I know he needs to play well to get minutes, but I don’t see how he can possibly play well when he’s playing 5 minutes a game with Wheeler and Ryder who are no help at all.
The minutes Tyler gets and the fact that Julien can’t figure out that Seguin’s one timer along the half wall is deadly is going to stunt the 19 year old’s growth.
PC listens too much to Claude that has to stop especially with Caron and Sauve more than likely breaking camp with the Bruins come this September.
Kev, He IS a boy amongst men.
Any one here want to tell me Skinner is winning battles along the boards? LIAR!
Ask Kampfer how big Skinner is. That was a great hit last night.
I realize words need to be written for the blog, but I require nothing on the stat sheet from Seguin this year. He needed to go to Providence but could not.
I am really getting sick of every Bruin not living up to a “toughness” level that is unattainable.
Your God Neely couldn’t even do it. He retired early, remember???
Get off Wheeler, Seguin, Ference, Ryder, Savard, et all.
Give me a break!
If Seguin comes back next year and has not put on any muscle, THEN talk.
He is BIGGGER this year then he was in juniors last year. He is 19 annd is playing a role on a playoff contender. WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE HIM.
Thank you Burke (not Kessel you idiots).
Frustrated fan signing off.
First of all – I’ll take a 23-goal, 46-point “Slow First Year” any time.
Seguin does look soft – and maybe more so – Lost. Right now he’s a turnover machine and got something like 6.5 minutes last night as a result.
The kid must be feeling really frustrated – its like he’s playing with a bit in his mouth. For him to be successful he’s got to be turned loose – but that ain’t happening until he can prove the ability to play a plus game that way. Right now, he’s not close.
I agree on the soft comment. I don’t think I’ve seen him win a battle on the boads all year. He really looks like a boy playing against men. He only gets more minutes when he deserves them. Not because he might get better if he plays more.
I’m just hoping that Sequin turns out a lot like Stamkos. Stamkos had a somewhat slow first year (23-23-46) and had a breakout second year. The only thing that really worries me about Seguin is that he is very soft. I’m hoping it’s just a first-year thing, and that he’ll focus on strength/toughness in the offseason, but still, he’s played with “Samsonov-esque” softness all year.
at least the trent whitfield era is over.
I think its a tough comparison to make. As Rommel says Seguin’s minutes are limited and he plays under a defense first coach. Not bashing CJ here but it takes much longer to learn to be responsible and still create offensively than it does to play in one direction. I would like to see a comparison of the defensive numbers. How is Skinner’s plus/minus?
At the draft TSN analysts (McKenzie and Maguire) noted that Seguin was a little behind in terms of “readiness” for the NHL (at least in relation to Hall). I have no concerns that he’ll turn out to be a very good, possibly great player.
I don’t think anyone expected Skinner to be as great as he’s been so quickly. Great find for the Canes.
This is way too much to put on Seguin. If we are relying on him down the stretch then we are in deep trouble. We don’t need him to step up. We need established players who are not producing (Horton, Krejci, Wheeler, et al) to start scoring
I would really like to see Sequin on some power plays and to also see his ice time raised. I am not convinced limiting his minutes hurts him over the long run, but I would like to see him get a little more opportunity to produce.
How many minutes does Skinner average a night? I still think Seguin’s growth is going to take much longer as he’s just not getting enough ice time to get in a rhythm.
We need him now more than ever.