Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Stars a disappointment, Tyler Seguin is not

Coming into this 2014-15 NHL season, the Dallas Stars were the sexy pick by many to make some serious noise out of the Western Conference. Not that those types of predictions weren’t justified. Coming off of a season in which they improved a great deal off of their brief rebuild, they made some very notable additions, including the likes of Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky, among others, that had their stock way up prior to the year.

A few months later, and the Stars are not exactly where people expected them to be at this point in the season. While they’ve played better of late,  having won four of their last five, they still sit in 12th in the Western Conference, eight points out of a playoff spot. Say what you want about it only being December, it’s not too early at all to call this team one of the season’s disappointments.

The high powered Stars, at least on paper, rank just 13th in the league in goals per game, while icing the league’s 25th ranked power play. They surrender, on average, 3.39 goals per game, which is the second highest total in the league, just 0.01 behind the Buffalo Sabres. Even if they’re able to right the ship, this isn’t a team that’s going anywhere without some help on the blue line.

Nonetheless, there is at least one player on the Stars that hasn’t contributed to the disappointment. Tyler Seguin continues to break out and become the superstar that he showed flashes of becoming while with the Boston Bruins. Since his arrival in Dallas, Seguin has had an opportunity for his game to grow, without the scrutiny of a large market, and the rewards have been absolutely tremendous.

Seguin is on pace to obliterate his career high for points, which he set last year at 84. He’s already halfway there this season, in just 32 games. Over that stretch, he’s gone for 25 goals and 17 assists, with an even split between goals and assists on his 12 power play points thus far. As things stand right now, he’s second in the league in overall points and tops in goals scored.

It’s absolutely incredible how much Tyler Seguin has come into his own since arriving in Dallas, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise. This is a kid that has always possessed an elite skill set and tremendous upside. It was just a matter of finding the right situation. In Dallas, he’s gotten himself out of the eye of the overbearing Boston media, as well as the ability to transition back to the middle, his natural position. He’s found just the right spot in more than one way.

Can he keep this pace up, though? Obviously 25 goals across 32 games is a torrid start, and has him on pace for 64 goals on the year. However, it’s important to note that his 19 percent shooting percentage is much higher than anything he’s posted to this point. Nonetheless, if he keeps shooting at this rate, he’s going to keep finding the back of the net. That, combined with his elite vision, makes him as dangerous as any player you’ll find in the league right now. Regardless of what the Dallas Stars continue to do as the season wears on, you can bet that Tyler Seguin will continue to take the league by storm.

About Randy Holt

Spending his days as an English teacher, Randy spends his afternoons, nights, and weekends as a writer on the Bloguin Network, as well as SB Nation. He is a staff writer for both Puck Drunk Love and The Outside corner, as well as Second City Hockey and Beyond the Box Score on SB Nation, showcasing his love for both hockey and baseball, as well as run-on sentences. A Chicago native (and Phoenix resident), he is an avid Game of Thrones viewer/reader and lover of red meat.

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