‘Baby Barky’ Anton Lundell embracing chance to step up for Panthers with Barkov out
The responsibility comes with the territory of the nickname.
Almost since the day he was drafted by the Florida Panthers, Anton Lundell had been given the nickname “Baby Barky” for his similar play style to Panthers captain and fellow Finnish center Aleksander Barkov.
Well, “Baby Barky” has grown up quite a bit over his first four seasons in the NHL.
And now, Lundell is going to play a big role in filling Barkov’s absence this season.
Barkov is sidelined for seven to nine months after undergoing surgery last month to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee following an injury in training camp. The Panthers are relying on their entire team to fill Barkov’s void, but Lundell is putting the onus on himself to be one of the main guys to step up.
“It’s time for everybody to step up,” Lundell said, “especially me. It’s an opportunity to bring something even more to the table and something I want to take as a good challenge. Just try to play my whole game and help the team as much as I can.”
Lundell has filled in for Barkov in spurts over the past few years. He has shown over short stretches that he can handle increased responsibilities.
But those heightened roles will be a season-long endeavor now for Lundell, who just turned 24 years old but already has nearly 300 games of NHL experience plus almost an extra full season of work in the playoffs under his belt.
“I want to prove I can take the next step,” Lundell said.
That next step is finding an uptick in the offensive side of his game. Lundell’s defensive skills have been on display his entire career thus far. He’s responsible in his own zone and has a career plus-minus rating of plus-69 entering Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
But he has yet to have a 20-goal season, which in part is a by-product of what the Panthers have needed from him. Because of Florida’s extensive center depth, Lundell has been running Florida’s third forward line his entire career and has been in and out of the lineup on the power play.
Florida coach Paul Maurice knows the offensive potential is there for Lundell — it was on display in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs when he scored six goals and had 18 points in 23 games while working with Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen on the way to the Panthers repeating as Stanley Cup champions — but also said the defensive aspects of his game have to remain the priority.
“Just in general, he’s so great at being in the right position all the time,” Marchand said. “I mean, you watch his defensive play and how he supports the puck, the battles that he wins and space he creates. You see the highlights of the goals, but what you don’t see is those little plays that make him such a great player.”
An area where Lundell has made noticeable growth: The faceoff dot. Lundell has won 26 of 38 faceoffs through his first two games for a 68.4-percent win rate. He was over 50 percent each of the past two years — 54.9 percent in the 2023-24 season and 53 percent in the 2024-25 season — and knows that’s a particular area where he needs to step up with Barkov out.
“I feel like I’ve got so much experience,” Lundell said, “and now it’s just trying to get out everything I’ve learned.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 12:16 PM.
.JPG)