- Mar 3, 2002
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Outstanding post. Thank you.WJSS wrapped up today and figured I'd share some thoughts from watching Sweden's games.
- It's hard to fully judge Lysell and Svedeback due to how bad the Swedish team was for most of the tournament. The defense in particular was horrible...dudes getting skated right around, awful turnovers, sloppy passes, etc. Sweden had scored 8 goals in their first 5 games (and were largely outplayed) before exploding for 7 goals today in their only victory of the tournament.
- Svedeback allowed 9 goals in 1.67 games but really only two of them were ones that he could have played better, IMO. Both were pretty juicy rebounds that he left right in front of the crease for easy put backs. He did make a number of tough saves including a couple of cross-ice one-timers on the PP. Overall, it is hard to draw any real conclusions on less than two games with his team not giving him much support.
- As for Lysell, he came as advertised. It's hard to not be disappointed with 0 points in 6 games but it wasn't from a lack of chances or effort.
- The thing that stands out most is his playmaking. He is always looking to push the pace and make something happen when the puck is on his stick.
- He straight up embarrassed multiple defenders with dekes throughout the tournament. After he did it once or twice I figured "OK, they aren't going to fall for that move again" and yet every single game he would dangle through the D (especially on a rush at the blue line) at least once to generate a scoring chance. His stickhandling at full speed is really impressive.
- One of the benefits of his pace and skill was his ability to draw penalties. I didn't actually count but I feel like it was around 6 PPs he generated over the 6 games. He reminded me of Pastrnak in that regard...putting the D in bad spots where they end up taking a penalty.
- When he was on the PP, he was the de facto QB. He was often the guy carrying the puck up the ice and entering the zone (usually successfully). He would set up shop at the half wall on his off-wing and look to make plays. My one criticism would be that he did have a number of unforced turnovers when on the PP...he'll need to be a bit sharper if he wants the responsibility of a PP QB.
- Defensively he was solid. You could see the motor going on the forecheck forcing the D to act quickly. He did a solid job of getting his stick in the way of passes in the neutral zone. There were times where he relied a bit too much on a stick wave to defend and would have been better off stepping into the opponent...but I won't ding him too much for that as an undersized player in mid-summer exhibition games.
- He was much chippier than I expected. He was not afraid to get into shoving matches after the whistle against bigger guys. The empty net stick throw was not the brightest idea but he didn't back down when confronted for it moments later.
- As mentioned above, Lysell is a menace in open space/on the rush -- but when it comes to more tight-checking, offensive-cycle parts of the game, he has a much tougher time. There were more than a few times when he had the puck and was closed on by a defender (usually who's bigger) and they didn't have much trouble knocking the puck away from him. Definitely something he'll have to adjust to (especially on the smaller NA ice).
- My biggest concern from the tournament was his finishing ability. He had multiple breakaways, 2-on-1s, a penalty shot, open looks, etc...and couldn't convert any of them. It's a small sample size but something to keep an eye on. With that said, even if his shot/finish never becomes elite, his overall playmaking & passing looks good enough to still be a solid offensive contributor.
- If any of the known prospect "gurus" write a review of the WJSS, it'll be interesting to see what they say about Lysell. Yes, he had zero points but he was generating chances all over the place. Overall, the positives far outweighed any negatives in his game throughout the tournament -- and I'm excited to see how he develops this year.
I agree, I thought Fabian Lysell played perhaps his best game of the tournament last night and was dominating at times. He could or rather should have scored a few goals on plays he created himself mostly.
Of course, he needs to finish plays better and he needs to get stronger but I think the Bruins could have themselves quite a player here.
It was good reading your post on Lysell and Philip Svedeback, but
I'm disappointed none of the European players will come to camp.
Looking forward to reading your points and views if you go to the development camp.
Quite a few interesting prospects and some exciting camp invites.
Hopefully, they all do well enough to earn a pro contract in the coming years, esp Brandon Scanlin, Marc McLaughlin, and Parker Ford.