It couldn’t have been easy for the Boston Bruins to watch Tyler Seguin score a hat trick as a visitor at TD Garden earlier this week.
Seguin has developed into one of the best forwards in the NHL since being traded by the Bruins just over two years ago and it would be understandable if the club wishes they’d exhibited more patience with such a young player.
In his weekly appearance on local radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub Neely explained where things might’ve gone wrong with the decision to move the all-star centre.
“I think looking back, we probably could have done some things differently with Tyler,” Neely said Thursday. “You’ve got a young kid coming in, maybe we could have handled his living arrangements a little different and stuff like that, that we’ve talked about over the years. It’s something we certainly are addressing currently, and in the future we will continue to address.”
Neely understands why anyone would second guess the Bruins’ decision to move Seguin — he was drafted second overall and plays a premium position — but he didn’t want to spend too much energy on hindsight analysis.
“Some [trades] you look at and say, jeez, maybe you didn’t get enough, or the return wasn’t quite what it should have been,” he explained. “Some, you’re happy with the outcome.
“Every team probably could look at every trade and pick it apart.”
Neely did, however, admit that he isn’t at all surprised by Seguin’s development, saying his talent was never a concern of the Bruins’ front office.
“Obviously he’s a hell of a player, and he’s got all kinds of skill,” Neely said. “He skates really well and he can really rip the puck.
“It’s one of those things where you knew he had all that skill, and you knew he would do well in the league, but that’s kind of history now.”
Entering Thursday’s games, Seguin is tied for the league-lead in scoring, with eight goals and 12 assists in 13 games.
