1 week Ago
BRIGHTON, Mass. — Fabian Lysell did not score his first career NHL point as he dreamed. In the second period of the Boston Bruins’ 7-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, Lysell handed the puck to Casey Mittelstadt in the offensive zone.
Mittelstadt flung a long-distance shot that bounced off Seamus Casey’s stick and past Jacob Markstrom. Advertisement But given that he’d seen zeroes next to his name for his first eight games, Lysell was happy to take the helper, even if it ends up being the easiest of his career. “Really good,” Lysell said of how he felt about his first point.
“Especially with a really good team win, too. Definitely made it even better.” 1️⃣1️⃣ let it 🪰 pic.
twitter.com/KS3V1MUx6W — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 9, 2025 Nothing about the NHL has unfolded how Lysell would have guessed since being drafted 21st in 2021. The right wing did not get a single NHL sniff during his first two pro seasons.
Lysell, once hopeful of replacing Jake DeBrusk on the No. 2 line, was among an early training camp wave of AHL demotions before the start of 2024-25. After making his NHL debut on Dec.
28, Lysell did not return for his second NHL appearance for nearly three months. The only reason he has been up for his past eight games is because the roster-wide dismantlement left interim coach Joe Sacco desperate for bodies. It wasn’t until Game No.
8 that Lysell gained some much-needed traction. He played a career-high 15:25, including 1:18 on the power play. He attempted four shots.
He pushed the puck with pace. The 22-year-old showed bursts of what the Bruins hope he will become: a No. 2 NHL right wing.
“He was on the attack more (Tuesday) night,” Sacco said. “I thought he played a good game. You can see flashes in his game of carrying the puck through the neutral zone, attacking, making some plays, executing some plays coming into the offensive zone.
Which was nice to see. I thought it was one of his better games since he’s been here.” Lysell is the Bruins’ fastest skater with the puck.
He accelerates from 0 to 60 like a Bugatti. He can make puck plays at top speed. He can create mayhem for opponents.
But the trouble Lysell’s had, both in the NHL and AHL, is expressing these skills regularly. His strengths have been muted because of shortcomings that are not uncommon among precocious speedsters: weak wall work, confusion in defensive coverage, suspect positioning, stubbornness to attack alone instead of looking for help. Advertisement It’s why the 5-foot-11, 181-pounder’s progress has been more jagged than he and the Bruins would prefer.
It does neither employee nor employer any good if he struggles to use the tools that made him a first-round pick ahead of Wyatt Johnston, Mackie Samoskevich and Matthew Knies. Lysell’s aforementioned peers have become NHL regulars because of their reliability in the areas coaches require. All of this makes Lysell far from a sure thing when it comes to making the 2025-26 roster.
He is wasting his blazing speed and clever stick skills if he gets stuck in the defensive zone — specifically, on the boards. Lysell has room to grow when it comes to pursuing pucks on the walls, protecting them from pinching defensemen and making plays that initiate defensive-zone exits and transition offense. It can take young players years to become proficient at passing pucks off the boards to the center or weakside defenseman, to say nothing of simply scraping them out of the zone.
“You don’t have to just chip it out every time,” Sacco said. “Because he has the ability to find the center coming out of our D-zone or find the net defenseman. That’s the one area, if he continues to build into his game, I think will help him a lot.
” Extricating pucks and feeding them to support feeds what could be Lysell’s most significant offensive asset: attacking in transition. Unless they are tightly gapped, most defensemen do not have the foot speed to backtrack and keep pace with a max-speed Lysell. He has the imagination to execute multiple puck actions off the rush, whether it’s backhanding saucers to linemates or gaining outside speed.
“I think that’s my biggest strength,” Lysell said. “Using my skating and be able to challenge guys one-on-one to create those high-danger chances. I think that’s where my game builds off.
” Advertisement Because of his speed, Lysell has a tendency to seek exterior space. The Bruins want him to think inside first. NHL goalies laugh at snappers from outside the dots, even ones as whippy as Lysell’s.
Lysell has work to do. He has three NHL games remaining before returning to Providence for the AHL playoffs. This summer, one of his mandates will be to hit the gym hard to get stronger.
None of this guarantees an NHL paycheck next year. Much of Lysell’s game remains a mystery. But nine varsity appearances have given Lysell belief.
Asked if this stretch has given him confidence for 2025-26, Lysell replied, “For sure. Both off the ice, getting to know all the guys, and on the ice, getting more comfortable. So 100 percent.
” (Photo: Ed Mulholland / Imagn Images).
