After playing youth and junior hockey in Sweden, Lee and his family decided playing in the United States was his best path to the NHL.
“I wanted to (come) over here to take a different route from Sweden,” he said. “I felt like USA hockey fit my style a little bit more as I was still developing.”
Lee joined Sioux Falls of the United States Hockey League, where he had 35 points (20 goals, 15 assists) in 61 regular-season games in 2018-19. He added a team-high 11 points (six goals, five assists), including three game-winning goals, in 12 postseason games to help Sioux Falls win the Clark Cup championship that season.
He then committed to UMass-Lowell, which scouted him at a college hockey showcase. Lee said he was somewhat familiar with the university because fellow Swede Mattias Goransson was a defenseman and alternate captain there in 2018-19.
“(U.S.) college hockey wasn’t a big thing in Sweden at that time,” Lee said. “Obviously, some guys heard of it, but it’s not like a familiar route to take … I decided to explore and see what’s out there.”
