NHL Draft 2010: Bruins Land a Nice Consolation Prize With Tyler Seguin

It’s been a well known fact that the Boston Bruins were coveting Windsor star winger Taylor Hall in the months leading up to the NHL Entry Draft. The only problem for the team was that the Edmonton Oilers were sharing the same sentiment and just so happened to be picking one spot ahead of them at number one overall.

Over the last few weeks Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini was careful not to show his hand, and left open the possibility that they could pass on Hall. But when push came to shove, the Oilers dashed Boston’s hopes and went in the direction many figured they would, selecting the potential franchise changer with the number one pick.

Boston team officials watched as Taylor walked to the stage and gracefully donned an Edmonton jersey while images of excited Oiler draft party fans played on the monitors.

As it began it to sink in that Taylor Hall was officially out of their grasp, the Bruins quickly turned to their backup plan, taking highly-regarded Plymouth center Tyler Seguin with the second pick.

Seguin shared a similar buildup and hype to Hall, and consistently improved his game this past season. NHL Central Scouting was so impressed with Seguin that they ranked the 18-year-old number one overall.

Scouts thought both players had the talent to be top franchise level players down the line after watching the two light up the OHL this past season. Hall and Seguin finished dead even with 106 total points and ended up sharing the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy awarded annually to the league’s top scorer, only the third time that’s ever happened.

One knock on Seguin was his lack of team success in comparison to Hall.

Hall has guided his Windsor Spitfires team to back to back Memorial Cup trophies and even knocked off Seguin’s Plymouth Whalers in the 2010 Western Conference Semifinals. Although when you take into consideration Windsor’s overall talent level compared to Plymouth, then you realize it’s a little unfair to downgrade Seguin.

Seguin may not have had the same type of pieces around him but he was still able to elevate the game of everyone on the ice with him. He’s a rare type of playmaker that can pass, skate, and shoot well enough that everyone on his line raises their level of play.

It’s for that reason that Boston shouldn’t be too worried about missing out on Hall, and instead be excited for landing Seguin. He has all the tools to be a great player in the NHL and the type of young man that the organization can put at the forefront.

The Bruins may have given away a supremely talented goal scorer when they traded Phil Kessel to Toronto, but what they got in return from the Maple Leafs, the opportunity to select Seguin, may turn out to be more than worth it in a few year’s time.