It was perhaps a little surprising that 21-year-old Fabian Lysell wasn’t at Bruins development camp earlier this month given what’s on the line.
While he does have a couple of AHL seasons under his belt, Lysell is still very much amidst his peer group with the prospects and minor league types that showed up at Warrior Ice Arena on Fourth of July week to put their burgeoning skills on display for the Boston Bruins organization. In Lysell’s defense, he had some injury issues at the end of his season in Providence that put a little bit of a damper on an AHL year that ended well with Lysell producing 15 goals and 50 points in 56 games while getting on the same page with the P-Bruins coaching staff.
It wasn’t a linear progression, of course, as Lysell had to be called out a bit by Providence head coach Ryan Mougenel in the middle of the AHL season.
“I hate the play in the third period where he’s trying to beat a guy one-on-four,” said Mougenel after a 4-1 P-Bruins loss to the Syracuse Crunch in December. “That’s the stuff he’s got to get out of his game, and it’s recognizing that. We’re getting into year two here and he’s got to start buying in or we won’t play for Jim Montgomery.
“There’s a lot of good things he does. He can create anxiety with his feet, but for Fabian, he needs to recognize that sometimes there’s not always a play to be made. I think that’s still in his growth.”
Again, to the young Swedish winger’s credit, he rebounded well from those challenges and responded to the critical words in the proper way. The flashy, fast young winger took a big development step at the AHL last season that would have afforded him a look in Boston if he hadn’t suffered an injury late in the hockey year. That also caused him to shut things down in the AHL playoffs where he played in just one game.
The speed, the playmaking and the offensive instincts are there, and those are the kind of electric skills that should give a player like Lysell a big-time advantage over some other prospective winger candidates headed into this season.
“Fabian had taken some steps. [He’s a] super young guy, came in and played pro when some of those guys were playing juniors. We sometimes forget that,” said Bruins Player Development Coordinator Adam McQuaid. “For Fabian to just come in and be confident and not have to overcomplicate things. He’s skilled. He’s capable. He doesn’t need to necessarily set the world on fire. Just come in here as a reliable player and create opportunities when they’re there.
“He’s another guy we’re really excited for. Especially coming in this year with two years pro under his belt. It’ll be a good year for him.”
So now the 2021 first-round pick is in the mix amongst a number of forwards that are going to get top-6 looks in NHL training camp as the B’s attempt to fill the void left by Jake DeBrusk’s free-agent departure to Vancouver. Lysell, Georgii Merkulov and Riley Duran were all mentioned as young players who could get consideration for NHL spots, and Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie and Justin Brazeau certainly qualify as candidates as well.
But Lysell is the one player that probably has the kind of speed and skill comparable to what the B’s have lost in DeBrusk.
Lysell will need to gain the trust of veterans like Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand if he’s even going to take off at the NHL level, and that starts with the biggest offseason of his professional hockey career. That’s going to start with a training camp where he shows that he’s ready to compete for an NHL spot entering his third full pro season where it’s time for him to take the next step.
Lysell has taken some encouraging steps as the top Bruins prospect in a draft-and-development system that’s been sometimes unfairly maligned over the last couple of years, but the biggest challenge will be coming in September. That could be a make-or-break as to whether Lysell is going to live up to the first-round investment that the B’s made in him after an up-and-down trajectory over the last couple of seasons learning and growing at the AHL level.
ONE-TIMERS
*Cross one prospective B’s training camp invite off the list as the Vancouver Canucks have signed winger Daniel Sprong to a one-year, $975,000 contract where he’ll join ex-Bruins Danton Heinen, Jake DeBrusk and Derek Forbort with a Canucks team that’s got some high hopes for the 2024-25 NHL season. Some pretty impressive work being done in Vancouver where they’ve signed Heinen, Forbort, DeBrusk, Sprong, Vincent Desharnais and Kiefer Sherwood for under $15 million of cap space for next season.
*Congrats to new B’s center Elias Lindholm, who got married this week to his longtime girlfriend Annica with their son Levi serving as the ring bearer for the nuptials. Lindholm and his wife are expecting a second child this summer as they prepare for a new family adventure in Boston after the free agent center signed a seven-year contract with the Black and Gold.
*A really sad final farewell to retired Patriot Ledger Bruins writer Mike Loftus, who passed away this weekend at the age of 65 years old. Loftus was a gifted writer as he showed in his 30 years at the Ledger, but what always amazed me about him was the incredibly detailed, smart questions he would ask players and coaches on a daily basis and how highly respected he was by everybody in the Bruins organization.
Loftus was also a proud dad who would talk often about his son and daughter, who has become a successful comic that he would often tell us stories about during the long hours spent at the rink. Loftus retired around the time that COVID hit the NHL and the Bruins beat has been missing a big-time presence ever since. Rest in peace, Loftus.
we lost my amazing dad this morning. the funniest person alive, endlessly supportive, a massively talented and hardworking writer, a true friend. i don’t know what life looks like without him.
— jamie loftus 🌭 (@jamieloftusHELP) July 21, 2024
mike loftus, 1959 - 2024 pic.twitter.com/KzuIeOY2wr