1. Lysell is more ready than ever
Last March, Lysell was roaring. He had seven points during a five-game scoring streak. But on March 23, Lysell catapulted into the Amica Mutual Pavilion boards during Providence’s 3-2 overtime loss to Charlotte. Lysell was concussed. He hurt his shoulder. Had it not been for the injuries, an NHL promotion was coming.
So with his injuries healed and a summer of training in the books, Lysell is better prepared to be an NHL right wing than at any time in his career. He has the speed, skill and courage to catch coach Jim Montgomery’s attention during camp.
“He knows how well he can play,” general manager Don Sweeney said. “He knows how much we were proud of the steps he had taken. He had a good camp last year. He’s just still got to continue to work on his complete game. One-on-one skills stuff and some of the stuff he can do to change a game are really good.”
3. Marchand and Coyle can hold his hand
The second-liners are demanding linemates. Because they regularly draw the hardest matchups, they require their right wing to be hard on pucks, in the right spots and dependable in battles.
That kind of attitude can be contagious. Marchand and Coyle could help to straighten out Lysell’s details.
“Just because you’re a skill guy doesn’t mean you’re going to earn that spot because you can dangle through three guys,” Marchand said. “You’ve got to be able to be very responsible defensively. Especially playing with Chuck and I, we play both sides of the puck and play against a lot of teams’ top lines. It’s as much as being really strong defensively as it is offensive.”
