Staying 'home,' Tyler Seguin sets sight on what's next: 'I want to win'

The Stars have a core of players that could be deemed pretty affordable by today's NHL standards, and that was an important consideration for Tyler Seguin.
The 26-year-old center on Thursday signed an eight-year contract extension that averages $9.85 million. That makes him the highest-paid player on the team and one the highest paid in the league, but it also can be seen as a "hometown discount" when you consider Seguin could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer and asked for a lot more.

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Just months after John Tavares signed a deal that averages $11 million per season in Toronto, Seguin decided to take less than what many in the market thought he might get.
"I wanted something fair, but I also didn't want to handcuff my team," Seguin said. "I want to win, that's my No. 1 priority. You want to be well off financially, but you also want to have a cap with a team that can be successful. That's a lot of what (GM) Jim (Nill) and I talked about. With our division, we need that room."
Seguin has one year remaining on his deal and will start the new contract next season. Jamie Benn has seven years remaining at $9.5 million, Ben Bishop has five years remaining at $4.91 million, Alexander Radulov has four years remaining at $6.25 million and John Klingberg has four years remaining at $4.25 million. That allows the Stars to take a talented lineup and make it better if they have the opportunity.
"Now we know we can build around this," Nill said. "We live in a salary-cap world and know now who our core is. It makes it a lot easier when you go to navigate either trades or future signings."

Seguin's negotiations were compared to Tavares, but Seguin said he didn't have the drive to find a new team. He said he believes he can have a winning career with Dallas.
"JT didn't have what I have here in Dallas," Seguin said. "I have guys that are heck of hockey players. Not saying there's not there (with the Islanders). But the core group here is ready -- we're right there."
Seguin added: "I really do believe that we have something special here with the relationships. Not only with teammates, but with staff, but with people in the front office, with ownership. It's just a family. And it's just somewhere I felt comfortable in at home and at ease with right when I touched down. It made this decision pretty easy."

Benn and Seguin are among the top six scorers in the league over the five seasons they have played together.
"With Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, I think our franchise is in a good spot over the next eight or nine years," Nill said.
Seguin said the negotiations were educational. He spoke out at the BioSteel camp recently in Toronto, and that seemed to tweak negotiations. At the very least, his comments that he was "disappointed" the talks weren't moving faster moved things along.

"Honestly, it wasn't a strategic move," Seguin said. "Maybe it ended up being one in the end. But I didn't really plan on it. It was first time I talked to media all summer and they asked how I was feeling and I just spoke the truth."
Nill said he was thankful to get the deal done before training camp starts Friday in Boise. He said this clears away a possible distraction.
"You don't want the distraction, for the team and for Tyler. That's not easy when you got this weighing on you," Nill said. "The other thing is a risk of injury. All of a sudden, you get on the ice and you never know what's going to happen. For us, it lets us continue to move forward as we continue to make this team better."
Something Seguin said he has wanted all along.
"It was emotional," Seguin said. "It was a process -- a learning process. But at the end of the day, I knew where I wanted to be.
"I knew where home was, and that was here in Dallas."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.