Stanley Cup Playoffs 2011: Tyler Seguin Gets His Chance vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

After the Boston Bruins' historic collapse in the 2010 playoffs, fans were quickly treated to some good news when the Bruins selected Tyler Seguin with the second overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft.

In Saturday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, Seguin will play in his first career playoff game, something he and the fans have been anxiously awaiting.

With Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron battling a concussion and probably unable to play for the first few games versus Tampa Bay, Seguin will get his chance to shine in the postseason, likely on the third line.

On draft day last June, Seguin was labelled as a franchise player who would add an offensive spark to Boston's weak offense heading into this season. While Seguin had a decent rookie season, he did not get the playing time fans expected him to receive.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien plays a very defensive style of hockey and if you can't play well at both ends of the ice, you're not going to play.

Many experts and fans believe Seguin was not given enough ice time to show his value to the Bruins, and that Julien's style of play was the reason he did not see the proper ice time needed to grow as an NHL player in his rookie season.

However, when he did play, Seguin displayed the offensive talent that made him worthy of a top draft pick.

Seguin's speed, shooting ability and passing were impressive this season, and he did well for a 19 year old kid who was thrown into a team already stocked with young talent.

For the season, Seguin had 22 points, scoring 11 goals and dishing out 11 assists.

Unlike 2010 top pick Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers, Seguin did not have the luxury of receiving ice time for a struggling team who can afford to let a rookie play major minutes.

The Bruins are title contenders, and didn't have the time to let Seguin develop at the expense of some growing pains and poor play.

Seguin has been a healthy scratch throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs, and now he has an opportunity to show Bruins fans what he's made of on the big stage.

In a CBC Sports article from May 9, Seguin spoke about his upcoming playoff debut: "You can't assume not playing," Seguin said.

"But if a guy's going to get hurt, I wanted to do the best I could to get a shot."

Seguin's most recent playoff game was last season in junior hockey for the Plymouth Whalers in the OHL playoffs, they were eliminated in the second round.

While the loss of Bergeron is not good for the Bruins—he is their best all-around forward and a great faceoff man—Seguin's debut will ignite the crowd and give some speed and skill to the offense.

Although likely not immediately, Seguin should see some time on the power play, which has been abysmal for the Bruins in the playoffs. In their first round triumph over Montreal, the Bruins became the first team ever to win a seven game series without scoring a powerplay goal.

Fans shouldn't expect Tyler Seguin to single handily dominate this series or score goals like he's Sidney Crosby. But he will add certain qualities to the offense, primarily his speed, shooting and offensive awareness which will help the Bruins create scoring chances.

Losing Bergeron will be a significant loss to the Bruins, but having a very talented rookie forward who can score is not a bad guy to replace him with.

Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins Featured Columnist, follow him on Twitter for Bruins playoff coverage.