From todays Athletic
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.
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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.”
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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.”
