Seguin/By S. Bradley
BOSTON — It seemed like Tyler Seguin had picked up his game over the course of the Bruins’ recent six-game road trip.
Nonetheless, before tonight’s 2-1 homecoming victory over Tampa Bay at TD Garden, the 2010 No. 2 overall draft pick found himself off the ice as a healthy scratch in favor of veteran Daniel Paille.
Paille had been a healthy scratch four games in a row. After the win, head coach Claude Julien said the scratch wasn’t a reflection on the level of Seguin’s play but on his style.
“It’s one of those situations where I wanted a fourth line tonight that was going to give us that identity,” said Julien, who was obviously referring to the grit and experience Paille brings that Seguin doesn’t. “And that’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s going to be. That’s part of the decision-making.”
Seguin, who didn’t even skate in the warm-up, had been a healthy scratch twice previously this season.
Thanks Kev, I think Seguin is improving so its hard for me to critique how the Bruins have handled him. I’m hoping the teams plan is to bring him along slowly and teach him to play defense so his scouting report reads “franchise center” rather than “playmaking winger with speed”
Amen on the whiner comment and George as well – bang on. Good to see that some folks are watching the same games I am.
The Bruins have handled Seguin perfectly. Every scout I read said he was not nearly as NHL ready as Taylor Hall. Seguin started out wandering around the ice waiting for a pass and avoiding contact at all times. Recently his game has changed to looking to get involved in plays and making contact in corners and near the net. If he’s in the OHL all that does is delay the exact same process to next season instead of doing it now. Whatever Seguin contributes this year is a bonus and next year there is a great chance he could better.
Wow, bunch a whiners and Segz apologists, or just looking for any excuse to bash the best coach in the league? Seguin is a liability most nights. Don’t judge him by the 6-8 seconds that he appears on your TV screen and is skating fast, think about the other 6 and 9/10ths minutes he is out there and not showing up at all. That’s like the sports show commentators on TV who know nothing about hockey but have to cover all sports, and say boy he sure has some skills. Truth is, right he’s scrawny, and he makes judgment errors with the puck, fairly often. He’s only benefiting about 100 times more from being here and playing most of the games and practicing than he would have in juniors. If you don’t like defensive hockey, go be a fanboy for the Leafs.
he was making something like 950,000 in his entry level deal. after 9 (i believe) games he got bumped to 3.5 mil as an incentive. what’s more, leaving him in jrs would have postponed his restricted free agency for a year. that was the whole argument with not bringing him up to start the season. which i will maintain if you weren’t going to play him anyway would have been a better option for the team.
he doesnt take up 3 mil in cap space.
asmaha, i think you are wrong on your assessment of how Seguin plays out there. i think he creates scoring chances. he certainly does more than Paille or Ryder.
it isn’t about making him feel good about himself. it’s a matter of what do we know about what they have in this kid? we don’t know anything yet. except that he’s clearly very talented and hardly plays. oh and that he’s eating 3 mil in cap space to sit and watch. awesome.
I am soooooo sick of this Seguin discussion. He has zero impact on the game when he’s out there. We think he does based on pedigree, or think he would magically be a 30-goal scorer “if Claude gave him the chance”. Phooey.
A 6-minute-per-game-cruising-around Seguin adds no value to a Cup contender, yet.
He’ll be instrumental in due time, but why sacrifice this chance in order to make a kid feel good about himself?
Agreed. Two third lines. Moronic to ask him to do the things Thornton and Campbell do. How about giving him a chance with Peverly and Kelly and putting Ryder in the trash heap?
r added
who is “Rembandt”?
He’s not a fourth line player. You don’t ask Secretariat to plow the field. You don’t ask Rembandt to paint your barn. Why ask a 182 pound rookie to go around hitting people. I doubt that if Carolina had a real deep team they would ask Skinner to crash and bang. If I had a choice I’d be like Detroit where they have two third lines and no fourth.
I feel like Claude going with Paille was a good call. He’s a great defensive guy- think back to last year when his presence was instrumental in beefing up the PK. I don’t know about anyone else, but I think having Seguin caught on the ice against TBL’s top line could’ve put the B’s in a bad spot. You never know. As much as we all got excited about Seguin before this season, if you watch his play in junior, he never had to be a physical presence. He played like the most talentedboy amongst boys, not a man amongst boys. Let’s be patient, he needs to develop a chip on his shoulder, and force his balls to drop.
And as much as I feel for everyone’s worries on here, the B’s are on a seven game win streak (knock on wood), and only 3 points behind Philly. You can rationalize the win streak by saying “oh, they beat Ottawa twice, the Islanders, and Edmonton; that’s not an accomplishment”. Like it or not, the parity in this league is so high that any team can really beat any other team on any night. The Isles have beat Pittsburgh twice and beat the Red Wings (if memory serves me right), while “stripped-down” Ottawa just beat Philly 4-1 the other night.
All of us fans are on the same wave length. Claude is a CLOD. His “identity” statement is pure stupidity
Everyone here sees it. Why doesn’t Clod? Paille is NOT BETTER THEN SEGUIN!
When he plays he plays for 5 to 6 minutes. WHAT A JOKE!!!!
I am a Bruins fan, always have been.
I hate Clude. I hate his “system.” I hate watching the Bruins lately.
Ottawa and last night was BORING!!!!
I try not to let that out because the obvious retort is “stop watching.”
I love hockey, I hate the trap.
I hate Claude.
No one can ever legitimize Paille over Seguin. Claude can try, but it is impossible. Claude’s handling of Seguin have been a joke. Guys like Ryder, Recchi and Horton spend months doing nothing and their playing time is not curtailed. Seguin makes minor mistakes to be expected from an EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD ROOKIE and Julien banishes him.
Whatever. If he thinks Paille gives them a better chance to win then I will start making vacation plans for late May and early June
I thought last night the fourth line looked worst then it has in a couple of games, Grit…. whats grit to claude miss handling the puck a bunch of times and bad passes cause that is mostly what I saw this game with Paille playing same amount of checks but way more give aways
Seguin is a great young player no one can deny that. He is still very wet behind the ears and I think Claude realizes that a 182 lbs 19 year old is going to get his clock cleaned one of these days. Last night was a very physical game, Paille can hang but Seguin can’t …YET.
I thought Seguin started showing some grit on the road trip. He was going to the net and taking his lumps in front. His game has improved greatly! Why sit him?
nick,
having him watch or play minimally is a waste of 3 million bucks, and one year closer to free agency. i want him playing, i didn’t want him to stay down but this is ridiculous.
I’m sure Seguin is learning a lot more practicing and playing (albeit somewhat sporadically) with the Bruins than he would have learned down in Plymouth.
That said, I am a fan of having Kelly Center the fourth line and having a Seguin-Peverly-Ryder third line, at least against defensive-minded opponents.
Clod stinks! Muck, grind, forecheck, pass backwards and retreat, only play muckers. We won’t win it all until they get this dope out of the way. Wheeler/ryder didn’t miss one second of playing time, but humpty dumpty screws this kid
They started shifting Kelley as the 4th line center last night during the second with Campbell as the 3rd line center. We will see Kelley on the 4th line sooner rather than later now. After all, it’s never been a question of if, but rather of when.
so julien doesn’t think he fits on the fourth line, but won’t give him a shot anywhere else. why didn’t they just leave him in plymouth if julien was going to screw arond with him all year like this? i expect a lot more of this down the stretch. what a waste of a season for a promising kid.
as i’ve been saying all along this whole problem is solved by putting kelly on the fourth line where he belongs.
Draft a guy that has never had to play a checking role or even knows where a fourth liner sits. Ask him to adapt to a new league and a new position his first year. Tell him he’s sitting because you want an identity. Why not just say Paille needs some game time instead of beating the kid up some more. It’s simple why he’s not playing. Why complicate it?
In other words, if he can’t be a grinder on the grinding line, he has to break into the top 3 lines as a skill guy… and it seems like so far Julien does not believe Seguin has earned a spot there.