The Boston Bruins wrapped a Fourth of July trade by shipping out center Tyler Seguin as part of a swap for Dallas Stars forward Loui Eriksson.
Boston sent Seguin, forward Rich Peverley and defenseman Ryan Button to Dallas, acquiring in return Ericksson, forwards Matt Fraser and Reilly Smith and defenseman Joe Morrow, the Bruins’ official website reported.
The trade comes on the heels of the Bruins’ dramatic, last-minute Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Bruins’ website makes the transaction clear with its new roster: Gone is Seguin, added is Ericksson.
Eriksson, 27, played all 48 regular season games for the Stars in 2013, scoring 12 goals and making 17 assists. He also received his first All-Star bid in 2011.
Seguin’s sudden send-off caps three seasons with the Bruins, during which he scored 56 goals and 65 assists in 203 games. The 21-year-old’s relationship with the organization has been tenuous at times, and management occasionally criticized his immaturity, suspending him for a game in 2011-2012 for missing a team breakfast.
General manager Peter Chiarelli, who pushed for the trade, told the Boston Globe that Seguin arrived with “much pomp and circumstance” and played well, but that the past season “wasn’t his best year.”
“It was a trying year, a weird year to assess players,” Chiarelli said. “Tyler’s a real good kid. [But] I see in the Twitter-verse a lot of reports about extracurricular stuff. I made comments to his professionalism and acting more like a professional. You have to remember, he’s 21 years old.”
Seguin thanked the fans of Boston for their support in a tweet after the trade announcement, adding that the city “will forever be a part of me.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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