Lysell’s Not Buying Into Team Game For Providence Bruins

Boston Bruins prospect and Providence Bruins winger Fabian Lysell may have scored the only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday, but that didn’t really matter to Providence head coach Ryan Mougenel.

Fabian Lysell now has seven goals this season, but his failure to buy into the team game that Mougenel is trying to teach the 20-year-old Swedish prospect has left Mougenel and his coaching staff frustrated. Following the loss on Sunday, the Bruins’ AHL bench boss was asked about Lysell’s progression so far. After seemingly biting his tongue and thinking of a nice way to answer the question, Mougenel had this to say to reporters on Sunday regarding the player the Boston Bruins used the 21st pick overall pick at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft on:

“Um. …listen there are a lot of good things that he does. He can create anxiety with his feet. But for Fabian, he has to recognize that sometimes there’s not always a play to be made. I think that’s still in his growth. He’s learning that. I’m not saying that he won’t, but the team game is really important, and he’s got five other guys there. I hate the play in the third period where he’s trying to beat a guy 1-on-4, and that’s the stuff he’s got to get out of his game, and it’s recognizing that. We’re getting into year two here, and he’s gotta start buying in, or he won’t play for Jim Montgomery.”

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The organizational systems and game plans for the Boston Bruins are built on a team game and not individual accolades or shows on the ice. As Mougenel pointed out, Lysell won’t be playing for Montgomery any time soon if he refuses to buy into that. For the Providence Bruins and the Boston Bruins, that needs to happen soon.

“That’s a big part of Monty’s game is the team game and building the team game,” Mougenel pointed out. “A lot of that is possession. You can’t necessarily chip the puck, get it back, expand, and hit the weak side D; you need five other guys to be a part of that, and you have to be connected with a willingness to play that way and until you do, you’re outta here; you’re not in the American League, you’re Jim Montgomery’s problem. Until then, he’s gotta start building that into his game.”

Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was asked about Mougenel’s assessment of Lysell on Monday.

“Yeah, that was after yesterday’s game. I was actually at yesterday’s game, so I certainly heard Moug’s [Ryan Mougenel] frustration after the game as we sat down for about 20 minutes,” Sweeney told the media on Monday. “The team played very well in the first period; their pace was up, and execution was good. Fabian [Lysell] was a big part of that; he scored a nice goal on the powerplay with a downhill shot, and managed the puck really well. And as the team started to stray away from… you give credit to Syracuse because they got to their game, and our team departed from that… that’s where a young player like Fabian… [Lysell] that he’s specifically referencing. Managing the game and having an understanding no different than really anybody else, but Brad [Brad Marchand] and Pasta [David Pastrnak] go through the same things…offensively inclined players are going to go through that; they want to do more.

Sometimes it’s just about maintaining within the team structure and executing, and that’s something that Fabian [Fabian Lysell] and all young players are going to continue to go through… older players, for that matter, are going to go through. They want to do more, and that’s a good quality to have, but you’ve got to do it within the framework of the team. It’s not something that he hasn’t heard directly from Moug [Ryan Mougenel], and he’s just trying to reaffirm that part.”