WILMINGTON — Way back when Tyler Seguin was a hotshot OHL star coming off a disappointing playoff exit against the Taylor Hall-led Windsor Spitfires last May, he knew what was ahead of him. Or at least he could narrow it down. 

Behind door No. 1 was the typical NHL top pick experience. For the No. 1-ranked player in the entire draft by the Central Scouting Bureau, being selected first overall by the Oilers (who finished dead last in the NHL that season) would mean Seguin could go in with the luxury of going through all the growing pains he wanted. 

Yet the argument could be made that door No. 2 was far more intriguing. That door would take him to Boston, with the opportunity to play for an Original Six team, and the chance to seriously contend for the Stanley Cup right out of the gate. The Bruins had come within a game of advancing to the Eastern Conference finals that year, but thanks to the Phil Kessel trade, Boston held Toronto’s top selection, which was second overall.

“In the end it's still the NHL, so I'm happy to go to either team,” Seguin told WEEI.com last May. “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.”

As things played out, the Oilers opted for Hall with the top pick, allowing Seguin to fall to Boston. Hall struggled in the early going but straightened things out en route to a 22-goal rookie season that was shortened by injury in early March. Seguin, on the other hand, scored a highlight-reel goal (an alley-oop/Hail Mary hybrid play from Michael Ryder that was — hold on to this one for trivia’s sake — also assisted by Tim Thomas) in just his second game of the season, but he ultimately failed to make a major impact in a season that featured just four more goals (11) than healthy scratches (seven).

Seguin, who has been a healthy scratch for all 11 of the team’s playoff games thus far, knew that it would be tough to be a top contributor on a team that understandably is more focused on winning with its veterans than grooming a youngster, but he admitted Monday that he didn’t realize just how challenging it would be. 

“Honestly, probably not,” Seguin said when asked if he knew it would be so hard to keep a spot in the lineup. “You don't actually know it until you get out here. I've seen how hard it is just to stay in this league, especially on a team like ours. I still wouldn't trade that for the world.”

In fact, there is a very gray area as to whether the Bruins even told the youngster before the playoffs that he would not be in the lineup when the puck dropped for Game 1 vs. the Canadiens in the quarterfinals. General manager Peter Chiarelli told the media in a conference call before the first round that Seguin was the anticipated scratch, but Seguin himself did not learn the news until the media followed up with questions for the rookie (“You guys might have told me,” he said Monday). For Seguin, there was no formal message that needed to be sent. He sensed that he would be watching the games from the press box and he was prepared to deal with it. 

“I think you get feelings. You just know,” Seguin said. “You look around and see what guys have been stepping up at the end of the season, and I kind of got the drift that I might be the first guy to be scratched, but I knew right from the end of the season that I had to be ready no matter what. I know I'm the young guy, but I want to be ready to step in and contribute whenever I can, and if it's just keeping a positive vibe in pregame skate, that's what I wanted to do in the playoffs in the first couple of rounds.”

For a while, those pregame skates were all Seguin had on game days. 

"He knew we were going to start with that lineup that we started with and experience was one of the things that we were looking for and where guys fit into certain spots," coach Claude Julien said. "We felt we had good line combinations but I always told him to stay ready. And the reason we dress him for every warm-up was that I needed him to, I guess get the experience of seeing how guys are getting ready for playoff games." 

Throughout the scratches, players and coaches told him to keep his head up and be ready for when his number was called. After the Bruins dropped Game 2 vs. the Habs to fall into an 0-2 hole, Julien talked with the rookie about his status, which could have been on the verge of changing had the B’s continued to struggle. 

“I talked to coach after Game 2, and he just said, 'Be ready in case anything happens,'” Seguin said.

While it was debatable at the time whether Seguin could have been close to finding his way into the lineup at the expense of the struggling Ryder, that debate ended in Montreal. Ryder played the role of hero in the team’s 5-4 series-tying overtime victory in Game 4. The veteran winger scored two goals, one of which was the game-winner in OT, and chipped in with an assist for his first three points of the playoffs. There was no way the Bruins would sit Ryder or mess with a lineup that was suddenly winning, so in the press box Seguin stayed. 

“You never want to be up in the box for a whole month like I've been doing, but you learn a lot up there, he said. “There's some stuff that I maybe can't even describe to you guys, but you do see the game a lot.”

Now, Seguin’s time finally has come, though it’s hardly good news for the Bruins. With Patrice Bergeron out with a concussion and expected to miss the beginning of the team’s Eastern Conference finals series against the Lightning (depending when it starts), third-line center Chris Kelly has been moved up to the second line, with Seguin being inserted onto the third line with Ryder and Rich Peverley. The rookie’s shot at the playoffs finally has come, and he knows that it’s no time for growing pains. 

“I think I'm going to go out there with tons of energy. … It's playoff hockey,” Seguin said. “Every game is important, every shift is important. It's not getting settled or used to the NHL anymore, now it's the season is on the line, so it's going to be a different approach for me.”