Why Tyler Seguin is better than Taylor Hall
Rumor has it that, leading up to the 2010 NHL Draft, the Boston Bruins tried very hard to package their 2nd overall pick in the draft for the 1st overall pick possessed by the Edmonton Oilers, so that they could draft Taylor Hall instead of Tyler Seguin. At the time, the Bruins had a log-jam of elite center-men, with Marc Savard, David Krejci, and Patrice Bergeron all on the roster, and they wanted to draft the winger, Hall, rather than another center in Seguin. But the Oilers refused, and went on to draft Taylor Hall with the 1st overall pick, leaving the Bruins to settle for Tyler Seguin at #2. But the sad thing is for the Oilers, I believe they could have acquired a helpful package from the Bruins while also still drafting the better player. That’s right, I’m saying Tyler Seguin should have been drafted ahead of Taylor Hall, although I can certainly understand making the wrong decision.
First, let me say that Hall vs. Seguin truly represents one of hockey’s impossible choices, the elite play-making center or the elite goal scoring power forward winger. However, when I watch Taylor Hall play, I see a blatant weakness, something I don’t see in Seguin’s game. Hall is extremely fast, strong, and he possesses a good shot, but I see many potential scoring chances wasted off his stick because he cannot maintain control of the puck through whatever maneuver he is attempting on a given play. Two skills that in many ways go hand-in-hand, balance and stick-handling, are where Taylor Hall falls short.
These aren’t obvious weaknesses, but the trained eye will notice them. For a good example of what Hall lacks, just look to his teammate, Jordan Eberle, who excels at those two skills like few others do. You might be surprised to learn that the smaller, slower, weaker, softer-shooting Eberle has 2 goals and 12 points more than Hall in five more games. Are Eberle’s superior hands and balance the sole reason for this? No, but they’re the main ones along with his vision, and the same phenomenon is true with teammate Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson. Like Hall, Paajarvi has better size, speed, reach, and finishing ability than Eberle, yet Eberle remains the far superior player because he is much more precise, compact, and in control of his movements, and the puck along with them. Where Paajarvi and especially Hall lose the puck on the way to far too many would-be scoring chances, Eberle does not, and that makes all the difference.
So where does Seguin come in? You could say he is an excellent fusion of Eberle and Hall, falling somewhere in-between. He may not be quite as controlled and precise as Eberle, but he makes up for it with superior size and reach. Then again, we’re not talking about Seguin compared to Eberle, we’re talking about Seguin compared to Hall, and Seguin’s hands, balance, and vision are all notably better than Hall’s. Hall’s one advantage over Seguin is his physical power, and it’s a big advantage; it’s just not enough to make him Seguin’s equal. Seguin is just superior to Hall in too many important areas of the game, and his set of skills compliment each other very well, yielding a dominant overall package of a player that could challenge for the Art Ross trophy in the near future. Seguin’s game shows flashes of Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman (offensively), while Hall appears as a dominant physical specimen both in muscle and speed, but without the truly elite level of “skill” in terms of puck handing and play-making that you would associate with the likes of Lemieux. It’s always hard to know how much weight to put on pure finesse hockey skill, as pertaining to the stick and passing, compared to a more physically oriented skill set, but my gut tells me that Seguin is more talented than Hall, better rounded in his offensive game, and just better. He can do more in more different ways, he makes you come out of your seat much more than Hall does, his many skills all come together in a dominant whole better than Hall’s; he’s just the more talented player in my mind, and I believe the Oilers should have drafted him instead of Hall.
With that said, Hall is a heck of a player, and if he can stay healthy and work on his hands and balance a bit, it’s definitely possible that Hall could develop into, if not the better player season after season, then at least the player you might want on your team if you could only pick one to play one playoff series for you. And you could just as easily argue that possibility means the Oilers made the right choice in picking Hall after all. Because Taylor Hall, in his prime, 100% healthy, with the kinks of his game ironed out a bit more, could be an absolute monster playoff performer. The same goes for Seguin in terms of taking over games offensively, but Hall brings that physical edge that’s so valuable in the playoffs, and so rare to find in top players.
This is why I said at the beginning of the blog, there is no loser in this trade-off between Boston and Edmonton. Both teams landed fantastic talents, and this really was the impossible choice between two elite players of different styles, where you couldn’t go wrong with either. I do believe Seguin is the better talent, but I’m a big fan of Taylor Hall, too. It’s just that he does have, if not weaknesses, areas in his offensive game that, just by virtue of being in the average range, do hold him back from truly being the consistently elite offensive player he would be otherwise. And in the areas where Hall has “weaknesses,” Seguin absolutely excels, and I think that gives him the edge overall.
What do you think? Sound off in the comments.
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RolandStone 10:08 pm on January 20, 2012 Permalink |
If you were next to me i’d kiss you in the mouth. Recently Seguin has not but scoring at same pace as earlier. However, watching the games fully you will notice a more physically assertive Seguin being able to come away with pucks off of battles. This opens up his gifted play making abilities in both zones. Oh yes, and most seem to forget he is not going to reach his full potential untill he is a full time center that learns from the inevitable bumps.
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SharkCircle 11:04 pm on January 20, 2012 Permalink |
Why would you kiss me? I mean I understand why every girl that knows me personally wants to kiss me, but why you who I’ve never met? But seriously, what’s with the kissy talk? This isn’t a baseball blog.
As for the non-kissing-related portion of your comment, definitely agree. Should have outlined what I thought of his strength more, but only so many words in the blog and I didnt for whatever reason. I did write, “(Seguin) is an excellent fusion of Eberle and Hall,” meaning more size, strength, and reach than Eberle, closer to the Hall spectrum, somewhere in between the two. I basically wrote that too, “… but (Seguin) makes up for (not quite matching Eberle in complete pinpoint control of the puck and his body) with superior size and reach.”
But I should have mentioned strength specifically, because you’re right, one difference between last year and this year is Seguin can hold the puck more along the boards, keeping up with Marchand and Bergeron in that regard, which has resulted in more time with the puck on his stick, more opportunities to retain possession in tight until he can find light and use his talents to show his might by putting the other team in it’s rightful place, scoring goals on the Canucks while Alex Burrows is busy at the other end of the ice getting his bite on someone’s face, causing fans to scream “right on go Bruins, make sure those Canucks are ruined again, they’re not our friends, show them how much it sucks to be our enemy, until Kesler collapses on the ice crying and screaming obscenities.”
“In the plenty-ee.”
Sorry I’m getting on track. I should probably say, to the Canucks fans reading, I don’t endorse a crying Kesler screaming obscenities. Bite is just what rhymed earlier, which took me to Burrows and the Canucks, otherwise they wouldn’t have made the rhyme at all. I happen to respect the Canucks’ talent.
As for Seguin’s puck protection, I thought he adequate at that towards the end of last year, too, and it’s just continued. Can always get better in that area though. Well, maybe not always, but Seguin can still improve there.
But yeah, Seguin has the speed, acceleration, agility, balance, strength, reach, hands, quick release, shot, vision, passing, all in the elite range, in my mind. Hall has the elite speed, possibly slightly better acceleration than even Seguin, agility, better strength, decent reach although Seguin’s stick might be longer (or it could be a running optical illusion on every single telecast, or I’m just full of it), pretty good release though I think Seguin’s is better, shot, but not the balance, hands, and playmaking ability (aka vision, whatever you want to call it).
Thanks for the comment! If you like the blog subscribe to it with your email address in the top right corner so my blog will know to automatically bother you every time I post a blog! I’m also on twitter.
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Greg 1:24 am on August 24, 2012 Permalink |
I think you should wear a helmet everytime u leave the house…first of all look at the difference when it comes to the teams they play for..second.. look at their junior records and the way they played in the juniors.. it was a total role reversal of what u just said.. hall was superior in every aspect..cause he had a BETTER team. so give your head a shake… if both teams.. boston and edmonton both wanted HALL, do u not think their was a reason… do u even watch hockey or have a clue… edmonton and boston are so far apart in the standings..put any half descent player on the first or second line of a stanley cup winning team that is a contender year after year and he is gonna look pretty good… still sad though.. Hall out scored Seguin on a shitty team by 20 points and played 9 less games.. last year seguin only had 14 more points on a BETTER team but also played 20 more games..on a better team.. but yet Seguin is better…HA…look it up..Hall has a better points per game average in the NHL than Seguin (not by much) and he plays on a shitty team… trade places..if hall was on the bruins he would be blowing seguin out of the water.. seguin has a cup cause he played for the bruins but he didnt win the cup..he was drafted by a good team and had 1 good game…wake up..look at the difference in the teams they play for and the stats…maybe u should stick to sport select or another sport cause obviously you dont have a clue about hockey!!
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SharkCircle 5:44 am on August 24, 2012 Permalink |
Thanks for the comment Greg. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded there’s at least one person out there less intelligent than you. Maybe someday you will know the feeling too.
You say, “…first of all look at the difference when it comes to the teams they play for..second.. look at their junior records and the way they played in the juniors.. it was a total role reversal of what u just said..”
Greg, I read that sort-of sentence and stopped. You say that Seguin only looks superior in the NHL because he plays for a better team, and to look at junior stats where Hall was the far superior player. Except didn’t Hall benefit from playing on the far superior team in junior? The stacked Windsor Spitfires team with Cam Fowler and others while Seguin was mostly alone?
Your comment is self-contradictory. Seguin’s performance in the NHL does not count because he plays for the better team, but Hall’s performance in junior does count while playing on a much better team. It literally, objectively, does not make sense. This is not two reasonable people disagreeing about a subjective topic, this is you being wrong, saying that 5+5 = 12, when it really equals 10. I know, surprise.
As usual, bias blinds.
Moreover, in junior, whether their team was great or not by junior standards, Hall and Seguin were both the best players on their respective teams, and got the most minutes. Hall benefitted from playing on a better team, with better teammates, but did not suffer less playing time as a result of playing on a better team. You can definitely argue Hall had an advantage over Seguin by playing on a better team in junior.
But contrary to your argument, the opposite is true in the NHL in this instance. Hall has received prime powerplay time and overall ice time in the NHL as a result of playing on a rebuilding team. And despite playing on what is a poor team overall, his line and his powerplay unit is actually pretty stacked with Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins. It’s the best of both worlds for Hall.
But Seguin has been stuck between the 2nd and 3rd lines on the Bruins, playing a much more structured and defensive game, and usually did not see first powerplay time the last two seasons. And the powerplay time he did see was on one of the worst powerplays in the league over the past two seasons, while, like I said, Hall played on the first PP unit of one of the best powerplays last season.
Despite all your awful reasoning, is it still possible Hall is better? Yes. If you would have read my blog, which it’s clear you didn’t, you would know I put them neck and neck at the time of writing the blog, giving only the slightest of edges to Seguin. But I liked Hall’s progression throughout the season more than I liked Seguin’s, who seemed to stagnate a bit.
So Hall could certainly be better than Seguin after all, but not because of any of the reasons in your “argument.” What you wrote is just stupid, it does not make any sense, contradicts itself, leaves all logic and intelligence at the door.
“put any half descent player on the first or second line of a stanley cup winning team that is a contender year after year and he is gonna look pretty good.”
Again this ignores factors like ice time, powerplay time, little things like that. I guess it’s easier to score on the fourth line as long as its on a good team than it is to score on the first line of a bad team. I still don’t understand how John Tavares outscored Colin Fraser!
Ok, I read the rest of your comment, and it’s more of the same. Seguin plays on a better team so Hall is better. No understanding of ice time, powerplay time, or overall opportunity. The only advantage Seguin gets from playing on a better team is winning games and plus/minus. You act like individual points are predicated on who plays for the better team, repeatedly sighting points and point averages. That’s not true. You don’t seem to understand the basics.
“maybe you should stick to sport select or another sport cause obviously you dont have a clue about hockey!!”
We’ll make a deal. I’ll learn hockey if you learn basic reasoning skills, basic arithmetic, the ability to weigh a few simple factors in your head and come to a logical conclusion about them. Why would 5+5=12? Why would playing on a better team always mean more points regardless of playing time and overall opportunity? If you just used your brain a little I think you wouldn’t waste your time posting fallacies like that in the first place.
But it was entertaining.
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Tbone 2:14 pm on April 4, 2013 Permalink |
always thought Taylor was a far better guy to have on the team than Tyler…why? Simple – desire and fire in the belly. Tyler is too busy trying to look good for the cameras (both on the ice and off). Taylor just plays like a man possessed. He wants to win at all costs and wil do anything to make that happen for his team. Tyler…hmmmn…not so much. Sure, Tyler’s a good player, but a dominant player and a leader? No – that goes to Hall.
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rob 4:31 pm on May 6, 2013 Permalink |
Obviously you don’t watch the Oilers very much. Hall’s season this year was so superior to Seguin’s it wasn’t even close. Seguin has played wing his entire career in the NHL, not center. This is the big myth surrounding Tyler Seguin, that he is some sort of sublime center. He has never proven that at the NHL level, not once. Seguin is an immature brat, Hall is a fiercely determined leader. No comparison at all.
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SharkCircle 3:16 am on May 8, 2013 Permalink |
Hey Rob,
It seems like you didn’t see the date on this. I wrote this over a year ago, closer to when Seguin was drafted (as a center). I’m aware he plays on Bergeron’s wing now along with Marchand. I’m also aware Hall had a better year this year than Seguin. Unfortunately it’s hard to judge them against each other like that because the Bruins are a deep cup contender where Seguin plays in more of a depth role, and their team also has a terrible powerplay ever year, while Hall is “the man” in Edmonton, a team with less depth, but a much better powerplay.
Those are a couple reasons why Hall had better numbers this season that have nothing to do with whether he’s the better player or not. However I will concede I haven’t been impressed with Seguin’s development since I wrote the article. He seems to have stalled.
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