There’s no doubt that Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have All-Star careers ahead of them. By all accounts from NHL scouts, the pair are can’t miss talents that will help lead the Edmonton Oilers back to prominence.

Throw in Ryan Smyth, who had two goals Thursday, and you can see why their forward skill is envied by others around the league.

All three certainly showed their talent Thursday night.

But in the end, it was Tyler Seguin‘s Bruins who had the deeper roster and better defensemen as the B’s prevailed, 6-3.

Seguin already has a Stanley Cup ring.

Seguin was a second overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft while Hall and Nugent-Hopkins were the last two No. 1 overall picks. Seguin said it was fun taking it all in.

“Yeah, I mean it was fun,” the 19-year-old Seguin said, before referencing Nugent-Hopkins, who is a whopping one year younger than Seguin. “And then there were some – you know, that new first overall kid – I don’t know why I said kid; I’m a kid – that was the first time I’d actually seen him play as well, and it’s cool seeing new talent coming into the league. They’re going to be a great team in a few years to come; they’ve got a lot of talent.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tyler Seguin doesn’t remember whether he was matched up with Taylor Hall a lot in juniors, but Hall certainly remembers Seguin. When asked the same question Seguin couldn’t answer a day earlier, Hall said he learned enough from playing against Seguin in the OHL that he has an idea of how to silence the Bruins’ leading scorer.

“I’ve played against him a lot in the playoffs. Over the last few years of my junior career, I played against him probably 20 times, so I kind of know what he’s all about,” Hall said Thursday.

Hall’s Windsor Spitfires swept Seguin’s Plymouth Whalers in the playoffs in 2010, a series in which Hall — whose line was out there against Seguin’s — kept Seguin from registering a point, while Hall picked up eight points in the four-game series.

Now, the tables are turned quite a bit. It’s Seguin who’s doing better statistically (15 points for Seguin compared to Hall’s nine), and while the Oilers boast the far superior record of 9-3-1, Seguin is the one playing on the defending Stanley Cup champions.

For that reason, Hall’s line with fellow young guns Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle might have a trickier time keeping Seguin off the score sheet. Even so, Hall hopes to draw from experience as he tries to silence the line he figures to see plenty of Thursday night.

“We had to play him really hard,” Hall said of Seguin. “We couldn’t give him a lot of time with the puck especially. Tonight — his line’s playing great, with [Brad] Marchand and [Patrice] Bergeron — we’re going to try to limit their time and try to play in their end and make them come 200 feet to score on us.”

Tyler Seguin is still trying to manage expectations. (AP)

Bruins forward Tyler Seguin has had an up-and-down rookie season, and as a result his minutes have predictably gone up and down. It can’t be an easy thing for an 18-turned-19-year old to deal with, especially one who has dominated every level at which he has played previously.

Yet to Seguin’s credit, as unhappy with his ice time as he may be at times, he hasn’t let it seep its way onto the public record. He told me recently that he had previously been “blaming the wrong people” for a cut in ice time that included healthy scratches, but that he was done doing so. If he was more unhappy about it, he kept it to himself.

Yet in talking to the Montreal Gazette recently, he touched on a couple of the same subjects he’s been approached about over and over, and this time he elaborated a bit more.

“It’s hard to meet those expectations, whether it’s points or your individual bonuses in your contract when you get less opportunity and less ice,” Seguin told the Gazette. “But the coaches know what they’re doing to help me as a person and as a player.”

Seguin and Taylor Hall were as 1-and-1a as it gets in a given draft year, and the Oilers opted for Hall, the No. 2 prospect in the draft according to NHL Central Scouting. After a rough start, Hall has come into his own for an Oilers team that is on pace to finish last in the league for a second year. Seguin, despite some encouraging signs over the last couple of weeks, still has yet to hit his stride. He has 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points this season, which puts him 17th amongst rookies. Hall’s 40 points (21 G, 19 A) puts him third, behind only Jeff Skinner (chosen after both players at seventh overall by the Hurricanes) and San Jose’s Logan Couture.

Seguin knew before last year’s draft that this could be the case if he came to Boston. Because they had Toronto’s first-round pick, the team that made it to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals would be able to add a type of player that generally would be given room to develop as a rookie.

“In the end it’s still the NHL so I’m happy to go to either team,” Seguin said in a conversation with WEEI.com prior to the draft. “I don’t have a preference. Edmonton is a Canadian city so they have a great fan base and they are a bit of a weaker team so there might be more opportunity there. With that being said, Boston’s already a contender. You can hop in the NHL and get a run for the Stanley Cup.”

Now, he’s experiencing just that.

“That’s one of the things with coming to a top team,” Seguin told the Gazette. “The young guys aren’t going to get as many opportunities on this type of team as maybe a guy like Taylor Hall in Edmonton. Not taking anything away from him, he’s had a great year so far and I know he’s going to finish off strong, he always does. And I’m going to be going into the playoffs, and that’s where my head is at.”

Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson is considered one of the top prospects in the 2011 draft. (AP)

NHL Central Scouting has released its midterm rankings for players in the 2011 NHL Draft. A year ago, Plymouth Whalers (OHL) center Tyler Seguin was the No. 2 prospect at the midway point before surpassing fellow Windsor Spitfires winger Taylor Hall in the final rankings. The rest, as they say, is history, as the Oilers went for Hall over Seguin at with the top pick, and the B’s grabbed Seguin second overall.

The Bruins had that pick of course, from the Maple Leafs, who gave the B’s a pair of first round picks as part of their package for Phil Kessel.

Now, as the midterm rankings are released, the Bruins and their fans can think a bit more about the next major piece they’ll get to add thanks to the Kessel deal. The Leafs were expected to be an improved team this season, and they are — two whole spots.

If the draft lottery were to take place today, the B’s would be fourth in line given that the Leafs’ 36 points ranks 26th in the NHL. Who might their prize be? Judging by Central Scouting Director E.J. McGuire’s comments to NHL.com, the Bruins wouldn’t be in bad shape if the Leafs’ pick wound up being the fourth overall choice.

McGuire suggested that this will not be a draft class like last year, which featured two concrete elite players in Hall and Seguin and then a bit of a dropoff.

“I would say at this point, with the number of viewings our scouts have had, as many as eight players could be taken first,” McGuire told NHL.com in the story. “The depth goes right through this draft. A cynic or somebody who’s characterizing this as a non-Sidney Crosby draft year only needs to know that whoever emerges in April at No. 5 on our list (Central Scouting’s final rankings), and in St. Paul as the No. 5 pick, could eventually be a better NHL player than No. 1. That said, this isn’t a Crosby draft year.”

Here are the best of both the North American and European skaters:

NORTH AMERICAN

1. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Kitchener (OHL), 6-foot-0, 207 pounds
- 25 goals in 32 OHL games this season; currently out with a high ankle sprain
2. Sean Couterier, C, Drummondville (QMJHL), 6-foor-4, 195 pounds
- Has 16+37=53 totals this season at Drummondville
3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, Red Deer (WHL), 6-foot-0, 170 pounds
- Has 50 points in 39 games after totaling 65 in 67 contests last season
4. Jonathan Huberdeau, C, Saint John (QMJHL), 6-foot-1, 168 pounds
- Has nearly doubled his 35 points from last season, as he has 65 in 40 games this year.
5. Tyler Biggs, RW, USA U-18 (USHL), 6-foot-2, 210 pounds
- Cincinnati native has four goals in 11 games
6. Sven Baertschi, LW, Portland (WHL), 5-foot-10, 175 pounds
7. Dougie Hamilton, D, Niagara (OHL), 6-foot-1, 6-foot-4, 193 pounds
8. Brandon Saad, LW, Saginaw (OHL), 6-foot-1, 208 pounds
9. Nathan Beaulieu, D, Saint John (QMJHL), 6-foot-2, 185 pounds
10. Ryan Murphy, D, Kitchener, 5-foot-10, 176 pounds

EUROPEAN

1. Adam Larsson, D, Skelleftea (Sweden), 6-foot-3, 200 pounds
- Believed by one scout to be a better prospect now than Victor Hedman was two years ago
2. Joel Armia, RW, Assat (Finland), 6-foot-3, 191 pounds
3. Mike Zibanejad, C, Djurgarden Jr. (Sweden Jr.) 6-foot-1, 191 pounds
4. Jonas Brodin, D, Farjestad (Sweden), 6-foot-1, 165 pounds
5. Dmitri Jaskin, F, Slavia Jr. (Czech Jr.), 6-foot-1, 196 pounds

Tyler Seguin knows that he’s been able to produce in the face of adversity. He’s done it since he’s been on the radar of hockey fans, but it might be a bit different at this level. That’s why he doesn’t want himself — or anyone else — to assume he’ll embark on a career-defining hot streak after being a healthy scratch earlier this week. Observe the following exchange.

It hasn't been the easiest adjustment to the NHL for Tyler Seguin. (AP)

WEEI.com: Obviously in juniors after that coaching change, and then when you didn’t make the World Juniors team last year, these things have seemed to spark a –

Seguin: Don’t. Don’t jinx it. Don’t keep going.

[A bit of background information: Seguin, who was taken ninth overall by the Plymouth Whalers in the OHL draft in 2008, wasn't producing like a top-10 pick out of the gate. He had just one goal in his first 17 games, and after coach Greg Stefan left to take a scouting gig with the Carolina Hurricanes, Seguin finished the season with 21 goals despite his slow start. This came after Mike Vellucci, who took over as coach, sat the then-16-year-old down and told him he expected him to produce regardless of age.

Last season, Seguin, the ninth-ranked prospect in the NHL draft, didn't make the World Junior Championship team and used it as motivation as he went on to lead the OHL with 48 goals and take over as the top-ranked prospect.]

Fast forward to mid-December.

Whether he liked it or not, Seguin was forced to take in Wednesday’s game against the Sabres from the press box, observing the pace of a game he’s still learning at a professional level. He sat alongside Doug Jarvis as the Bruins fell to the Sabres, 3-2.

“I got to sit up top and look at it from a different perspective, and that’s how the coach and GM wanted me to spend the game,” Seguin, seemingly understanding of the decision, said.

The 18-year-old followed the scratch with an encouraging showing in Montreal, making a nice play to get the puck to Andrew Ference to set up Marc Savard‘s first goal of the season. Seguin has just three points in his last 10 games, so he’ll look to build on whatever forward steps he can take after being kept out of the lineup.

“I always try to turn a negative into a positive,” Seguin said. “All it is is adversity. You’ll face it a million times in your hockey career, so it was just another experience of it. I wanted to come out with a strong game in Montreal, and I think I did that. I just want to stay consistent.”

As the second overall pick still gets his bearings and finds different ways to adjust to the NHL, top pick Taylor Hall has seemed to hit his stride, scoring 10 goals thus far. Still, Seguin knows that how a player performs in the early going of his rookie year does not exactly set the pace for one’s career production.

One of the players to whom he most often compared in Steven Stamkos (flip a coin on the frequency of comparisons of Seguin to Stamkos or Steve Yzerman) was also a healthy scratch at times as a rookie. Seguin, who has five goals thus far, kiddingly noted that Stamkos had four before Christmas prior to lighting it up with 20 goals after the holiday. In fact, Stamkos — the same guy who has 24 goals this season — only had three before Dec. 25. Regardless of the solace he may take in knowing he isn’t the first to deal with such adjustment to the NHL, Seguin isn’t trying to follow anyone’s path or try to be somebody he’s not.

“I just want to be Tyler right now,” Seguin said. “I want to find my own identity and figure this league out.”

Tyler Seguin has worn a Plymouth Whalers jersey for the last time (Plymouth Whalers photo)

Claude Julien announced on Thursday night that Tyler Seguin will be staying with the Bruins and not returning to the Ontario Hockey League’s Plymouth Whalers.

“He’s here to stay,” Julien said of the second overall pick of the draft and former OHL MVP, relaying a message from Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli.

Seguin scored his second goal of the season in the second period of Thursday’s 2-0 victory over the Maple Leafs, beating Toronto netminder Jonas Gustavsson with a wrister from the circle. It was his first goal at TD Garden, and he now has four points on the season.

The Bruins gave Seguin the news after he spoke with reporters on Thursday, but his comments on the subject before finding out his fate were the same as they have been all along — that he wasn’t taking anything for granted.

“I think I came out here and I think I worked my hardest, and in the end, that is all I can really ask of myself,” Seguin said. “I think I’ve been improving with that kind of situation.”

Last season with the Whalers, his second OHL season, Seguin scored 48 goals and added 58 assists for 106 points. He was chosen with a pick acquired from the Leafs in the Phil Kessel deal, which also netted the B’s Toronto’s second-round pick in 2010 and a first-rounder in 2011.