Bruins general manager Don Sweeney met with a couple reporters who were in Buffalo for this weekend's Prospects Challenge and shared a few newsworthy items.
According to the Boston Globe's Matt Porter, Sweeney said that all Bruins players and staff are fully vaccinated. The Bruins are now the fifth NHL team to publicly confirm 100% vaccination, joining the Flames, Hurricanes, Maple Leafs and Flyers.
There are expected to be others, as NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last week that about 98% of the league is fully vaccinated and that he expects fewer than 15 players across the whole league to be unvaccinated.
The NHL and NHLPA agreed to COVID-19 protocols that severely limit what unvaccinated players can do this season while also allowing for unpaid suspensions if unvaccinated players are forced to miss time due to COVID.
The second newsy item that Sweeney shared is that Fabian Lysell, the 21st overall pick in this year's draft, will likely play this season with the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League.
There had been some hopeful thinking among fans that they might get to see Lysell in Providence this year, with maybe even an outside shot at a call-up to Boston at some point -- after all, that's the path David Pastrnak took in 2014-15 after he was drafted out of Sweden.
But the WHL makes a lot of sense for Lysell, and this really shouldn't be viewed as any sort of disappointment. What Pastrnak did is the exception, not the rule.
Lysell will get to play against players his age in Vancouver while also adapting to the North American rink size and a more physical game. Doing that in the WHL, where he should be able to put up points, could be better than doing it in the AHL against older pros.
Lastly, Sweeney said that Charlie Coyle may be limited for the start of training camp this week due to the knee surgery he had this offseason. That's not surprising, as Coyle acknowledged that possibility himself a couple weeks ago. Coyle did say he expects to be 100% by the time the season starts.
The rest of the Bruins' NHL players are healthy going into training camp, with three defense prospects -- Josiah Didier, Victor Berglund and J.D. Greenway -- the only other injuries.
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