The final eight games may hold little meaning for some in Bruins’ uniforms now with playoffs chances out the window. But for rookie Fabian Lysell, it is a chance to show that he can be a part of the retool/rebuild.
Five games into his NHL career, the jury is still out on that.
That would be true even if he was lighting it up on the scoresheet instead of possessing the 0-0-0 stat line he took into Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals. But offensive players do need to show production and that as yet to come for Lysell, the 2021 first round pick (21st overall).
He’s been close to getting on the scoreboard and has in fact played a role in a couple of Bruin goals in those five games. But interim coach Joe Sacco believes Lysell still needs to wade further into the more treacherous waters, where the goals are scored, to get a foothold in the NHL.
“He’s still getting adjusted to the league,” said Sacco. “The effort’s been there. He’s trying to make a conscious effort to play with the puck and without the puck. The one area of his game that he’s got to continue to grow is in the offensive zone holding on to pucks a little bit longer, just staying stronger in those areas of the ice and trying to work your way to the inside, try to get inside of those scoring zones as opposed to outside of the scoring zones.”
Lysell is not the biggest man, nor is he the smallest. The 22-year-old right wing is 5-foot-11, 181 pounds. Getting to the inside is more about a mindset. Brad Marchand, generously listed at 5-foot-9, scored a lot of goals in a Bruin uniform.
“It’s a will,” said Sacco, who added that Lysell needs work along the walls in the defensive zone as well. “You have to have the ability to fight your way through checks, win one-on-one battles. We’ve seen it before. You don’t have to be the biggest guy in stature to score on the inside but it’s a determination and will to get in there. It’s hard. It’s not easy but you’ve got to find that will to get inside in those scoring areas.”
Lysell acknowledged he’s got to go to the difficult areas of the ice to have success.
“It’s just about having the courage to take it there, that’s the first step, being relentless there, looking at what you’re doing and trying to see where you can build your game and figure out where you can get on the inside from small plays. It’s just about building it and having the courage to take it there,” said Lysell, adding, “I’m a good skater and I’ve got to use that and use my teammates, play quick and attack guys that are open and that’s how I think I’m going to create goals. I’m really trying to focus on that.”
Lysell nearly got rid of his goose egg in the B’s 2-1 loss to Detroit when he was stopped on a breakaway on a good sprawling save by Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot. With a Detroit defender in hot pursuit, Lysell made a decent move to his backhand with a bouncing puck. For an instant, he thought he’d broken his own personal ice but no such luck.
“Yeah, it would be nice to get one,” he said with a chuckle. “But at the same time I feel like it’s coming along. I’m getting the looks off the rush and obviously I got a breakaway last game. It’s just about sticking with it and me trying to be even more hungry around the net because that’s how you score in this league. You’re not going to have a breakaway with five meters. Somebody’s going to be on you. It’s just about how you handle those situations and how you capitalize.”
Lysell has one more year left on his entry level deal. He’s still got time to establish himself as an NHL player, but not as much as he once had. Is he starting to feel that external pressure?
“For myself, I want be able to play my game, which is creating a lot of open ice for myself and for others by using my skill set,” said Lysell. “That’s my expectations of myself and I think that’s always the highest (pressure), what you put on yourself, right?”….
The B’s locked up former UMass forward Dans Locmelis after the Minutemen were bounced from the NCAA tournament by Western Michigan over the weekend. In the three-year entry deal that won’t kick in until next season, he’ll have an NHL salary cap it of $860,000.
The Latvian-born centerman will play the remainder of this season with Providence on an amateur tryout contract.
As a sophomore at Umass, he notched 8-25-33 totals, more than doubling his freshman totals of 7-7-14.
But the 21-year-old Locmelis, a fourth round pick in 2022, has really opened eyes on the international stage for Latvia, helping his country win a bronze medal in the 2023 IIHF World Championships and then helping Latvia qualify for the 2026 Olympic Games, for which he’ll most likely be a participant…
Jeremy Swayman was back in net against Washington, looking to snap a personal five-game losing streak and record his 100th career victory.