While Sweeney and other members of Boston's hockey operations staff may not have been able to see much of Lysell in person due to the pandemic, the Bruins were able to keep a close eye on the dynamic winger through the eyes of European Scouting Coordinator P.J. Axelsson. The former Bruin skated in 797 career games with the Black & Gold before leaving the NHL and skating out the rest of his playing career with Frolunda Hockey Club in Sweden.
"I just spoke to him actually on the phone," said Lysell on Friday night. "I spoke to him a few times."
Having Axelsson in Sweden where he could watch Lysell on a regular basis provided the Bruins with a firm grasp of the player and person they would be getting if they were to select him with the 21st pick.
"Obviously, we have a player that played a long time with the Boston Bruins in P.J. Axelsson that is in Sweden," said Sweeney. "[He] was in the hometown of the player. Fabian had originally played for Lulea. He's made some real steps. We challenged him in all the interview process in terms of how his maturity and such was progressing and felt satisfied that, again, he's made a lot of strides from growing into a young man and beyond."
Coming up as a young hockey player with Frolunda, one of Sweden's premiere hockey development programs and Axelsson's former club, Lysell was able to showcase some of those strong attributes in impressive fashion.
Prior to the 2020-21 season, Lysell skated in 14 games with Frolunda in the J18 Elit League. The skilled winger produced 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in just 14 games that season. The year before that, Lysell spent more time with Frolunda, this time in the U16 Elit and U16 SM leagues, where he recorded 67 points (34 goals, 33 assists) in 21 games combined between the two leagues.
"I think, the training is really tough, the off-ice training is super tough," said Lysell. "I think that has been a process for everybody coming from that environment, to learn how to train hard at a young age. That's a thing that's stuck with me, and I think that's going to help me in the future."
The now 18-year-old also recently won a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2021 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship in Frisco, Texas. Lysell tied for the Swedish team lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in seven games.
After securing a player that was ranked well above 21st on most draft boards, Sweeney sees an opportunity for Lysell to grow into an impactful player for the future of the Bruins.
"You really pay attention when he goes and plays against his peers," said Sweeney. "Can he dominate games or at least be a game breaker? I think he's showed moments of that skillset as well and he's got a lot of work to do in terms of rounding out his overall game.
"He just has the speed, he has skill, the ability to shoot the puck past the goaltender. And again, some game breaking ability that was hard for us to pass on."