Patrick King

Taylor Hall helped the Windsor Spitfires win the Memorial Cup last year. (file)

Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin? The debate will go on until the NHL draft this summer in Los Angeles.

There will be more than bragging rights on the line when Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin meet for the final time in their junior careers.

The consensus top two picks for this summer’s National Hockey League draft will have their last opportunity to outshine the other in the highly-anticipated Windsor-Plymouth playoff series beginning Thursday.

Hall and Seguin are expected to go first- and second-overall this June in Los Angeles, but as one scout tells Sportsnet.ca, that choice won’t be determined from this playoff series alone.

"If you’re going to be in the market or in the running for those two guys, I think you’ve seen them enough now that you have your opinion and you know who you like better," the scout said. "If the season were to end today, I think most scouts would feel pretty comfortable with who they were going to pick."

The majority of the scouting community is slanted towards taking Hall, the third-year forward of the Windsor Spitfires and last year’s Memorial Cup Most Valuable Player. Hall, a late 1991-birthdate, has accomplished more and is perceived as having more immediate NHL potential.

Seguin is the more well-balanced and versatile player whose potential might shine brighter in the long run.

The race is much closer than anyone would have predicted last summer and choosing between the two is practically like splitting hairs or, in this case, picking sports cars.

"It’s a difference between getting a Lamborghini and a Ferrari," the scout offered. "My own opinion is that Taylor Hall will be a better player in the NHL quicker, but in five years, I think the other guy is going to be a more complete player."

As junior rivals, the two have gone head-to-head countless times the last two seasons. Although neither player is willing to admit it, they raise their level of play when facing each other.

Hall held the Ontario Hockey League scoring lead heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Seguin scored an otherwise meaningless goal in the dying seconds of Plymouth’s final game against Saginaw, if not for the fact it gave him a split of the scoring crown with his rival.

"One seems to feed off the other," the scout noted. "They both like competition. When one seems to pass the other, the other one is chasing him and is able to catch him."

Hall holds the more impressive resume with both team and personal success. His ability to raise his level of play in big games -- such as the Subway Super Series game in November and the Canadian world junior selection camp -- was taken into account in the evaluation process.

However, a strong playoff series against a rival can only do so much to raise each player’s stock with the bulk of the work already done.

"I’m not sure there’s that much weight to put on a head-to-head series so much as their total book of work," the scout said. "I would hope - myself included - that we all kind of keep it in perspective."

Regardless of the outcome of Windsor and Plymouth’s second-round series, the debate will rage on about each player’s potential. Hall is the type of speedy, game-breaking talent that comes around but once a draft. His dynamic offensive skill-set made him such an enticing prospect since his first season in the OHL three years ago.

Simply put, Hall’s been in the spotlight so long now he’s getting a tan from all the exposure. However, it didn’t take long for Seguin to emerge from Hall’s shadow this season.

Seguin earned his hype due to a less flashy, but effective style. He won’t score as many highlight-reel breakaway goals as his counterpart, but his style might be more conducive to longevity and versatility.

"Whatever style of play you want to play with Tyler, it seems to me he can play it," the scout said. "To me, Tyler is Joe Sakic and Taylor, I don’t know if I have a good comparison. I just think I favour Tyler over Hall because I think at the end of the day, he does almost everything so well."

The majority of the draft evaluation which remains, the scout said, is reserved for players whose stock is rising from early second-round to late first-round.

Hall and Seguin are well-known and established as the gems of a bright draft class and a playoff series will mean more to the players than the scouts.

"They’re both phenomenal players," the scout concluded, "and they both have potential to be future superstars in the National Hockey League."