The Dallas Stars have signed Tyler Seguin to an eight-year contract extension worth $78.8 million, the Stars announced Thursday. The deal will pay Seguin $9.85 per season which is more than Stars’ captain Jamie Benn’s $9.5 annual salary. Seguin was reportedly disgruntled that a deal hadn’t been agreed upon heading into the 2018-19 season but he can rest easy knowing he got a very good payday.
— Dallas Stars at NHL All-Star (@DallasStars) September 13, 2018
Seguin has been a member of the Stars since the 2013-14 season following a trade from the Boston Bruins. While he showed a lot of promise and potential in Boston, the team elected to trade him for reasons that are still not quite clear over five years later. In Dallas, however, Seguin has proven to be a superstar and at 26 years old, the best might be yet to come.
In his five seasons with the Stars, Seguin has scored 173 goals and 384 points in 387 games. He’s recorded upwards of 30 goals four times in that stretch including a career-high 40 goals in 2017-18. In addition to his impressive goal-scoring ability, Seguin has also recorded over 70 points in all five seasons with the Stars as well as 84 points in his first year with the team.
Seguin Contributes More Than Pure Offense
Though Seguin joined Dallas as an offensive-minded forward who could play both center and on the wing, he’s quickly turned into a very responsible 200-foot player who can be trusted in all situations.
While it would make sense to play Seguin in the offensive zone as often as possible, the Stars have actually used him less in the offensive zone each season as he’s seen his zone stars go from 43.4% in the defensive zone in 2015-16 to 49% in 2016-17 and up to a career-high 51% in 2017-18. Using him as an all-purpose center has given the team options down the lineup and it’s a testament to how much Seguin as grown as a player.
Paying any player upwards of $10 million a season is a risky investment as there are no certainty in sports. With that said, there are few players in the league who are as consistently dominant as Seguin year in and year out. Over the last five seasons, the only player to score more regular season goals than Seguin in Alex Ovechkin. Tied with Seguin in second place is Sidney Crosby. Any time you can be lumped into a group with those two players, it says a lot about how effective you are.
The Stars are looking to make strides in 2018-19 and while the past few years have been relatively disappointing for Dallas, getting Seguin locked up for the long-term bodes well for their long-term aspirations. The Stars boast one of the league’s best duos in Seguin and Benn and while the team’s situation on defense may still not be where they want it, there’s reason to be optimistic about the future of the club.
