A position change has unlocked Anton Lundell’s scoring ability. ‘It’s a different game’
The Florida Panthers have touted Anton Lundell as a one-of-a-kind young player since virtually the moment they selected him with the 12th pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, and Paul Maurice came to learn this quickly when the Panthers hired him in the offseason.
One of the first tells, the first-year coach said, was Lundell’s eagerness to play on the penalty kill.
“Most young guys go, ‘Oh, no, let somebody else do that. They shot block out there,’” Maurice said Saturday. “He wants that piece to his game.”
Soon, Maurice learned it’s because the second-year center wants everything to be a piece of his game — as a rookie, he was one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL and still recorded 44 points in 65 games — and it’s making him a fascinating player for the 55-year-old Canadian to try to develop, which led Maurice to a new tack last week. Lundell, for the first extended stretch in his career, is playing on the wing in an effort to unlock more of his offensive and goal-scoring capabilities, and it’s starting to pay off.
Lundell will line up on star center Aleksander Barkov’s left wing for the sixth straight game Thursday when Florida closes out a three-game road trip against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Canada and he enters the game with a chance at his first three-game goal-scoring streak of the season. The sample size is still small, but there are real signs of life for Lundell, who scored just four goals in his first 35 games of the regular season before scoring twice in the next two.
“I love it,” Barkov said Tuesday in Ontario after assisting Lundell on a short-handed goal in Florida’s overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. “At our best, we can be really good and effective, and we’re still working. We’re still talking a lot. We’re still finding our way.”
The new-look top line, which Maurice first rolled out Jan. 10 for the Panthers’ upset of the Colorado Avalanche in Denver, was partially about experimenting with a young player’s untapped skill set and partially about trying to yank some of the Panthers’ best players out of slumps, and the results have been decidedly mixed so far. Lundell, Barkov and forward Sam Reinhart had never played on a 5-on-5 line together before last week, and Florida outshot its opponents 25-24 when those three were on the ice together through their first five games as linemates, but also got outscored 5-2 with a 30-23 deficit in scoring chances and a 15-4 deficit in high-danger chances.
Lundell’s offensive improvement, however, has been apparent. The 21-year-old Finn was right in the middle of both goals, winning a 1-on-2 puck battle behind the net against the Avalanche to set up Barkov and finishing a 2-on-1 from Reinhart to score in a win Monday against the Buffalo Sabres in New York, and averaged 3.8 shots per game in his first five games as a winger after averaging just 2.2 before the change.
Even a disallowed goal provided a glimpse of just what Lundell can bring on the wing. In Florida’s loss to the Vegas Golden Knights last Thursday in Nevada, Lundell received a pass way out on the left wing and sniped a tight-angle shot into the top of the net, only for replay to show he was offside, wiping away the goal.
“You can kind of like play a little more offense,” Lundell said Saturday. “I’m trying to help the line, bring some speed, skill, and try to shoot some pucks and hopefully get some goals.”
It’s exactly the mentality Maurice was hoping to extract from Lundell when he temporarily made him a winger last week.
Lundell’s desire — and ability — to do a bit of everything is a large part of why he finished sixth in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy last season, leading all rookies in plus-minus and scoring goals at even strength, and on the power play and penalty kill. His wide range of responsibilities, though, could theoretically make it difficult for him to develop individual components of his game to an elite level.
A move from center, Maurice figured, would ease some of the burden on Lundell and let him play with a more singular focus.
“He’s such an interesting guy because some say [with a] player, The sky’s the limit. What’s interesting about Anton is he can become any kind of player he wants to be,” Maurice said. “He’s got the hands to be a playmaker. ... He can shoot the puck. He can think the game defensively, he can think it offensively and I think he’s trying to develop all of it.
“He’s going to be a complete, all-around player, so what we’re dealing with right now is, how can we increase that curve in some part of his game? So instead of trying to make him an all-around player every year, can we drive a little more offense out of him, get the hands going, the creativity? It’s easier for him to do it on the wing with a player like Barkov. It’s a different game. Barkov handles the puck differently, it changes where you get it, you start to see these guys’ small little area give and goes, so I just wanted to see that.”
Although the line could still play better, the move is working out for Lundell so far, as well as Florida.
The Panthers won three of their first five games with the revamped top line and secured points in four of five to stay within four points of a postseason spot.
It’s both helping Florida in the short term and, Maurice hopes, Lundell in the long run.
“I still think he’s a center iceman and those guys are hard to find,” Maurice said, “but with his age, we can develop pieces of his game at different times.”
NHL fines Panthers’ Paul Maurice
The NHL fined Maurice $25,000 for his comments Tuesday criticizing the officiating following the Panthers’ loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
“I don’t know what the hell those guys were doing tonight, but it wasn’t Florida Panther-friendly,” Maurice said after Florida was whistled for 10 penalties at Scotiabank Arena.
Maurice said the calls were a product of his prior relationship with one of the referees.
Maurice has a relationship with Francois St. Laurent, one of the refs Tuesday, dating back to 2016, when St. Laurent tossed Maurice from a game when he was coaching the Winnipeg Jets. It was the only ejection of Maurice’s career and came after he tore into the ref following a hit he believed was dirty. In the aftermath, St. Laurent appeared to laugh at Maurice and Maurice, when asked about St. Laurent’s alleged behavior, said it “would then have been consistent with his overall demeanor regarding the whole thing.”
“I just explained to my players it had nothing to do with my players,” Maurice said. “It had to do with me and the relationship that I have with one of the referees.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 11:47 AM.
