Tyler Seguin, Stars Agree to 8-Year, $78.8 Million Contract Extension

The Dallas Stars and forward Tyler Seguin agreed to an eight-year contract extension on Thursday. 

Using the magic of Super Mario Bros., the Stars found a clever way to officially announce Seguin's new deal worth $78.8 milion:

Per TSN.ca, Seguin's average annual salary of $9.85 million makes him the highest-paid player on the Stars. 

Prior to signing the extension, Seguin had one year left on his contract and was set to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

The 26-year-old Seguin is coming off one of his best NHL seasons, as he scored a career-high 40 goals in 2017-18 to go along with 38 assists for 78 points.

That marked the second-highest point total of his career behind only the 84 points he tallied during his first campaign with the Stars in 2013-14.

Seguin was originally selected by the Boston Bruins with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft, and while his rookie season was a learning experience, he flashed his immense potential as a second-year player.

After recording 67 points in his sophomore campaign, however, Seguin was dealt from Boston to Dallas for forwards Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith and Matt Fraser, and defenseman Joe Morrow.

None of those players are still with the Bruins, and it is a trade that has haunted Boston ever since it happened, as Seguin quickly became one of the NHL's top forwards.

Although the Stars have only made the playoffs twice in his five seasons with the team, Dallas has been a good fit for Seguin due to the talent around him.

While Seguin is a stud, he doesn't have to do it all on his own, as Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov are top-end forwards too, and John Klingberg is one of the NHL's premier point-producing defensemen.

Depth has been something of an issue for the Stars at forward and defense, as has goaltending, although they addressed their need in between the pipes by acquiring Ben Bishop last offseason.

The Stars still have some deficiencies in their lineup, but superstar players aren't easy to come by and Seguin is undoubtedly bordering on that status.

With both Seguin and Benn now locked in for the foreseeable future, Dallas has a chance to be a contender in the Western Conference for years to come provided it makes a few tweaks.