Before the Boston Bruins headed out on a five-game road trip last month, they brought up prospect Fabian Lysell. Interim coach Joe Sacco said that he would end up playing on the trip, and that was the case. Forward Mark Kastelic returned to Boston on the trip with an injury, which inserted the 2021 first-round draft pick into the lineup.
Lysell showed flashes on the trip, and getting a shot the rest of the season in the lineup is what he needs as a showcase for the future. While that sounds all well and good, then Tuesday night against the Washington Capitals happened, and he was not in the lineup. That left a lot of people asking, “Why?’’ and following the game, Sacco provided an answer and it doesn’t make much sense.
Bruins coach Joe Sacco explains Fabian Lysell’s absence from the lineup vs. Capitals
Following the Bruins' 4-3 loss, in which they put together one of their better efforts in recent games, Sacco was asked why Lysell was scratched in favor of Jeffery Viel against Washington. Let’s just say if this is going to be the case moving forward, then it might be time to question what his future is in Boston.
“You saw the game oth there,’’ Sacco said. “Tonight was more of a lineup decision based on the opponent.’’
Ok, so if I’m reading this right, scratching Lysell against the Capitals was based on the physical game that Washington plays. This isn’t the first time this has happened, as the same situation occurred on New Year's Eve. Lysell was called three days earlier to make his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets, only to be sent down before a trip to Washington and we were given the same reason, just in different terms.
What do we make of this? Lysell has shown he is NHL-ready with his play. His production has yet to come, but it will. However, if you’re going to be sitting him against teams that play a physical game, then what are the Bruins doing? You can’t do this every year. Sooner or later, he’s going to have to play against teams like that.
To Viel's credit, he didn’t back down from dropping the gloves in the second period with the Capitals' Dylan Mcllrath, which was a good tilt. However, Viel is not a long-term answer, and what made the scratch even more head-scratching was the fact that two players placed on waivers the day before, Patrick Brown and Vinni Letieri, were in the Black and Gold lineup.
More than likely, Lysell will be in the lineup against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, but trying to sell that you held him out of the lineup against the Capitals is not something that fans will buy for too long.
