Florida Panthers’ Anton Lundell is shining as a rookie but also sees the larger plan
The question raised to Anton Lundell was simple: Where do you think you have grown the most as you near the midway point of your rookie season in the National Hockey League?
“I think at the start I didn’t really know what to expect and how everything works here, on ice and off the ice, too,” Lundell says, “so maybe the biggest thing is that I know even a little bit how the week’s schedule is here and how are the games are.”
A simple answer, a fair response.
But wait. Lundell’s answer, just like his NHL career, is just getting started.
“Every game is a battle,” he continues. “It’s hard games. I just need to be the best in every game. And I think the biggest thing is I knew I was able to play here and do good. Just keep going and believe in myself. I want to show everybody that I’m ready to play and help the team in every game and try to play good every game.
“I want my bad games to be good games,” Lundell concludes, “so my level in our game is very high.”
Now that’s an answer.
Even as he navigates his rookie season while playing for the Florida Panthers, one of the NHL’s hottest teams, 20-year-old Lundell has remained poised and introspective. The No. 12 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft strives for success but understands his improvements will most likely come in incremental stages. He knows how high his ceiling is but keeps his focus on raising his floor to get to that top-end potential.
He sees the long-term trajectory — both for his individual career and the role he has in the Panthers — and is prioritizing that while enjoying the successes that come in the immediate along the way.
“He’s a really mature kid,” veteran winger and two-time Stanley Cup winner Patric Hornqvist said. “He plays on the right side of the puck all over the game. He does the right things, and when you do that, you get rewarded. You get rewarded with ice time. You get rewarded with points. He’s gonna be a big piece of this organization for a long time.”
‘Everything we expected and more’
There’s no need to wait and see what Lundell might become for the Panthers.
He’s already showing he’s a big piece for the organization.
Through games played Tuesday, he has a plus-9 rating, meaning the Panthers have outscored opponents by nine goals in even-strength and short-handed situations this season when Lundell is on the ice. That’s the second-highest rating among all rookies.
His seven goals? Tied for sixth among rookies.
His 10 assists? Tied for seventh.
The 17 total points? Seventh.
His 16:35 average ice time? Ninth among all rookies and third among forwards who have played in at least 25 games.
He is one of the Panthers’ top penalty-killing forwards. He is on Florida’s second power-play unit.
And while his exact spot in the Panthers’ lineup in even-strength situations on any given night fluctuates depending on who is available — he regularly centers the Panthers’ third line but has moved up to the second and down to the fourth at times this year — Lundell has made himself a fixture regardless of the wingers to his left and right.
“He’s been very impressive, particularly for a 20-year-old,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said last month. “He’s a tremendously skilled player, very cerebral on the ice, competitive, respectful — and I say respectful in a competitive manner because he’s mindful of when to challenge and not. He knows where to pick his spots and where to make himself vulnerable and maybe when to lay off a little bit out of respect because he can understand who might beat him and who he can maybe poke a puck away from, to use an example.
“But he’s been everything we expected and more.”
It’s not necessarily surprising. Lundell came to the Panthers with a strong hockey pedigree. He was an alternate captain for Finland when it won a silver medal at the 2021 IIHF World Championship last summer and won gold medals at the 2019 World Junior Championships and 2018 World U18 Championships. He started playing in Liiga, Finland’s top professional ice hockey league, when he was 17 years old.
“Even if he’s young,” winger Jonathan Huberdeau said, ”he’s such a smart player and he can play in every situation.”
Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers’ team captain who hosted Lundell at his Boca Raton home to start the season, put it even more succinctly earlier this season: “That kid is special. ... He’s taking those whole chances he’s getting and he’s crucial for us.”
‘More confidence, more motivation’
And Lundell’s game has picked up as of late — or, rather, the part of his game that most recognize when evaluating forwards.
Lundell is on a four-game point streak heading into the Panthers’ road game against the Dallas Stars on Thursday. He has scored two goals and added three assists in this span since the Panthers returned to playing games following a nearly two-week hiatus that started with a COVID-19 outbreak inside the team and continued through the NHL’s holiday break.
“It feels pretty good,” Lundell said. “I get more confidence, more motivation for the goals.”
But Lundell will be the first to tell you that goals aren’t his sole focus. He wants to be a 200-foot player, a center who can be just as productive on the defensive side of the game as he can on a rush to the opposing net.
He’s been excellent in that aspect virtually all season.
Lundell leads Panthers forwards with 35 takeaways (second on the team behind only defenseman MacKenzie Weegar) and 30 blocked shots. He has logged the most shorthanded ice time among Panthers forwards this year (78:40). The Panthers’ trust in Lundell’s defensive skills were apparent from his NHL debut, a game in which Florida went on the penalty kill nine times. He was on the ice for 5:26 in short-handed situations that game, second behind only Barkov (6:16) among forwards.
“It’s always something that I’ve been interested in, even from juniors, I always want to be one step ahead of the player I’m playing against,” Lundell said of his defensive style. “I want to be smarter. I think about what I would do if I was him and usually I’m on the right side and I get the puck.”
Interim coach Andrew Brunette said Lundell’s high defensive acumen and his burgeoning scoring potential at the early stages of his career have been a “luxury” for a deep Panthers team.
“It’s very impressive,” Brunette said. “He’s been tremendous up and down the lineup. ... You can move him anywhere and he fits right in and he does his job. It speaks a lot of his hockey IQ.”
And it’s just the start for Anton Lundell.
“I think I’m on the right way,” Lundell said, “but I know I’m not where I some day want to be.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 11:31 AM.
.JPG)