This in from hockey writer and analyst Dominic Tiano of Dom.Hockey.com, a rumour that the Boston Bruins and Edmonton may be cooking up a deal involving Boston moving former first round draft pick winger Fabian Lysell to the Oilers.
Said Court Lalonde of the Bruins Diehards podcast: “When the Boston Bruins used their first round pick in the 2021 NHL draft to select Fabian Lysell, fans saw a glimpse of the type of player the franchise rarely has a chance to draft. A pure offensive talent with blazing speed, elite hands, and Top 6 potential. Fast forward to today and instead of talking about him becoming a fixture in the Bruins lineup, the conversation has shifted. Rumours are swirling the Bruins may be dangling Lysell in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers… Dominic Tiano suggested in my Discord (digital chat) that the Bruins and the Oilers have been in conversations.”
My take
1. Tiano has the reputation in Boston of being a good source of news on Bruins prospects. I can’t speak conclusively to Tiano’s credibility or his sources, but he’s well enough regarded in Boston and this rumour makes sense from the Boston perspective, though maybe not so much from the Edmonton perspective.
2. It’s logical that the Bruins would be thinking of trading off Lysell, even as he was their first round pick in 2021, 21st overall.
Boston grabbed him one pick before the Oilers took Xavier Bourgault, who was traded away by the Oilers last summer after two unimpressive years in the AHL.
Lysell has been a much more successful AHLer than Bourgault. He’s known for his speed and skill passing. But he’s failed to make the Bruins after three AHL years and his point production in the AHL trended down last season. He’s in the final year of his Entry Level Contract.
3. This past March, Boston coach Joe Sacco said of him: “The reports from Providence are all positive as far as his game down there. Not just offensively but his 200-foot game, his play away from the puck, his ability to stay on pucks, the things that we need to see from some of the young players. It’s good that he’s getting an opportunity. At some point we’ll see him in the line-up here…”
Does that sound to you like a coach who wants a young and flashy prospect to develop the checking skills necessary to help out in the AHL as a role player? That’s how I hear it.
Fabian Lysell
4. It’s not a good signal if a prospect takes a step back as a player in the AHL. This doesn’t mean Lysell can’t become a competent NHL, or even a Top 6 option for some team. But those Top 6 possibilities aren’t screaming out from his statistical drop this past year. He’s also a smaller forward and the Oilers are already well stocked with that kind of player in newcomers Ike Howard, Matt Savoie and veteran Andrew Mangiapane.
5. The Bruins Diehards postcast mentioned Savoie and winger Vasily Podkolzin as possibilities in a Lysell trade, but it’s hard to imagine either player makes sense from an Oilers perspective. Savoie is a year younger than Lysell, a higher draft pick, and had a better year in his first AHL season than Lysell did in his third AHL season. The one other year they played in the same league, 2021-22 in the Western Hockey League, the younger Savoie had 90 points in 65 games, Lysell 62 points in 53 games. Savoie has two more years of being waiver ineligible, and two more years on his lower ELC salary, Lysell just one year.
As for Podkolzin, Edmonton is desperate for the size, speed, aggression and defensive play he brings, so moving him out would seem to be a non-starter unless his contract demands are way out of line. Even then, it’s hard to imagine the Oilers would consider moving him for Lysell, given they have three of that type of player already in Howard, Savoie and Mangiapane.
6. Would Edmonton have any interest in Lysell? Hmm. I’ve not seen this player so I’m no expert on him, but unless he’s one helluva ferocious backchecker and forechecker (as Savoie reputably was last year in Bakersfield), I don’t see a fit.
7. The only possibility I could see would be Edmonton giving up a prospect for Lysell, maybe d-man Beau Akey or forward Quinn Hutson. Or it could be that Lysell might be moved to the Oilers in a somewhat bigger deal that could include top AHL goalie and Boston prospect Michael DiPietro, 26. That might be of more interest to the Oilers, but, again, not sure Lysell is a fit here.
P.S. Hotter than Hell hockey talk on Oilers Now, Staples with Bryn Griffiths.
Cult of Hockey prospect series 2025
Dmen: Nikita Yevseyev (18th), Asher Barnett (19th)
Goalies: Eemil Vinni (20th)
At the Cult of Hockey
Staples: Can Smurfs get it done? Edmonton Oilers now faster but smaller on the wing
LEAVINS Oilers cap challenges are not and shouldn’t be Connor McDavid’s problem: 9 Things
STAPLES: Still one massive unknown about Connor McDavid’s new contract