Bruins fans who want to watch 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell this season will have no trouble doing so.
Lysell, whom the Bruins drafted 21st overall last month, announced on his personal Instagram account that he has signed a contract with the Bruins, meaning he will be coming to North America instead of playing another season in Sweden.
The Bruins haven't officially announced the deal yet, but the expectation is it will be a three-year entry-level contract, the standard first contract for players 21 or younger.
UPDATE: The Bruins have now made the signing official. It is indeed a three-year deal, with an annual NHL cap hit of $925,000.
"The Bruins are excited to have signed Fabian to his first NHL contract," said general manager Don Sweeney. "Fabian is a talented young player, and we look forward to working with Fabian throughout the development process."
The safe bet would be that Lysell will spend the season with AHL Providence, although there's obviously a chance he could surprise and end up challenging for NHL playing time. Bruins fans may recall that's what happened with David Pastrnak back in 2014-15.
Lysell could also be sent to major juniors. The Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League own his rights there.
Lysell, a speedy and skilled right wing, spent last season in Sweden split between Frolunda's junior team in the J20 SuperElit (Sweden's top junior league) and Lulea in the Swedish Hockey League (the country's top professional league).
Lysell averaged over a point per game at the junior level (13 points in 11 games), but struggled offensively in his first taste of pro action, putting up three points in 26 games with Lulea. He also played well for Sweden at the Under-18 World Championship, recording three goals and six assists in seven games.
Another season in the SHL certainly wouldn't have been a bad thing for Lysell, but getting him over to North America will allow the Bruins to get him into their system and allow Lysell to start getting used to the North American game and playing on smaller ice.
"I think we do identify with the skill and the game-breaking ability. He's got speed," Sweeney said after drafting Lysell. "He can both playmake and shoot the puck. Going down and watching live at the U18s, you saw the pockets of his high-end ability. There's other details all young players have to learn and he'll have to assimilate to the North American style, but he has attributes that I think we identified that the Boston Bruins need as much of as we possibly can. Scoring and skill is a premium and it's hard to find, and Fabian has a lot of those attributes."
Lysell, along with fellow Swedish draft picks Philip Svedeback and Oskar Jellvik, was unable to attend Bruins development camp last week due to COVID restrictions. Prospects coming from abroad either needed to be vaccinated or had to quarantine. Lysell reportedly had not yet been able to get vaccinated, and there was not enough time for him to clear a quarantine.
