Almost immediately after Tyler Seguin was traded to the Dallas Stars, the rumors began to fly as to the reason for the trade. The main stories came from Boston media: Seguin partied too much, especially during the playoffs. I believe there’s more to it than that, but since no one is willing to dig for that information, we’ll just have to leave it at that. The fact that he’s a 21 year old wild child with amazing talent is now the Stars’ problem.
The Chicago Blackhawks understand this situation well. Patrick Kane is three years older that Seguin, but he’s done some stupid stuff of his own – the limo incident in Vanvouver, the cab driver incident and Cinco de Mayo in Madison last year. But after that well-documented debacle, Kane settled down, buckled down and focused on his game. A year later, he became the Conn Smythe winner, a Lady Byng nominee, the Blackhawks’ leading scorer and one of the key reasons they won the Stanley Cup.
I thought about how the two men were handled by their general managers. Stan Bowman was surely frustrated with Kane’s behavior, but he sat him down, gave him a stern lecture and put the fear of whatever into him. It turned Kane around in all aspects, and we’ve seen the results. Stan didn’t want to give up on Kane despite the howls of fans demanding his trade.
Like Bowman with Kane, Peter Chiarelli probably talked to Seguin multiple times, but my guess is that it fell on deaf ears. Instead of buckling down and focusing on his game, Seguin has continued his behavior and spends time with a crowd that’s become toxic to his performance. A trade was the last resort, but Seguin most likely pushed Chiarelli over the line.
Here’s where I propose something that’s entirely plausible. Kane and Seguin are friends and have been since their time together in Switzerland. Seguin had amazing stats there, probably due to the fact that the only people he really hung out with were Kane and his mother. Perhaps in his free time between his Cup day and training, Kane should reach out to Seguin. Hearing from a friend who was in a similar situation could show Seguin that changing his ways will only make him better. The worst that Seguin could do is completely ignore Kane’s advice and do as he pleases, but at least someone will have tried to get through to him.
We’ve already seen how Seguin’s reacted to his trade, and it’s already become painfully embarrassing for the Stars. What Seguin needs is someone outside his team and his entourage to sit him down and talk to him plainly and frankly. Patrick Kane could be just the person to do that.
