Seguin surprised by level of talent in Swiss League

Tyler Seguin admitted that he wasn’t sure what to expect when he made the decision to sign with EHC Biel of the Swiss-A League. 21 games later, he gave the league glowing reviews.

“The league is very competitive — the speed and the talent level of the players has surprised me,” Seguin told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper, according to CSNNE. “The league is very competitive — the speed and the talent level of the players has surprised me. It took me some time and effort to get used to it.”

After that transition period, Seguin caught fire and now has 20 goals and 32 points in 21 contests. That’s more goals than any other NHL player in the Swiss League, which is a list that includes Patrice Bergeron, Rick Nash, John Tavares, Logan Couture, Jason Spezza, and Joe Thornton.

“Scoring goals is never easy; I didn’t do very well at the beginning,” Seguin said. “Now I just hope to continue playing well like I have been lately.”

Seguin is also helping Biel kill penalties, which is something that he that he was almost never asked to do as a member of the Boston Bruins.

Obviously, no one is suggesting that he would have put up identical numbers with the Boston Bruins, but it certainly would have been great to see how he would have performed if it wasn’t for the lockout. Seguin took a giant leap forward last season with 29 goals and 67 points in 81 games.

2012-13 would have been his third full NHL season and Bruins fans might have watched Seguin establish himself among the NHL elite.

Of course, the season isn’t entirely lost yet. If the lockout ends in the not too distant future, Seguin will get a chance to return to Boston and try to help the Bruins win the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.