Anton Lundell outgrows ‘Baby Barkov’ nickname, will be x-factor for Panthers

Winning minutes against Aleksander Barkov is already an extremely difficult task. Now, consider that the Panthers have a Barkov clone in Anton Lundell, and it’s easy to see why the defending champions are considered to be the best defensive team of their generation. Barkov, along with teammate Sam Reinhart are in contention for the Selke Trophy and will likely be tasked with shutting down Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, while providing plus-offence of their own. Lundell has operated as Barkov’s apprentice, but he’ll have a much larger role in this series, where he should win his matchup handily against the Leafs’ bottom six.

Lundell is still just 23 year old, but he’s a seasoned veteran at this point and he’s one of the NHL’s most defensively responsible forwards. He’s beginning to find his scoring touch more regularly, and during the Panthers’ five-game triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning, posting two goals and five points in the final two games of the series. Toronto’s roster boasts some high-end scorers, but it has lacked depth scoring throughout the season. In a six-game battle against the Ottawa Senators, Max Domi and Max Pacioretty were the only Maple Leafs forwards outside of the vaunted Core Five (for all intents and purposes, Matthew Knies has been added to this group) who scored goals. This perhaps ignores a few timely contributions from the Maple Leafs’ back-end, but the point remains that Lundell and his linemates appear poised to win the bottom-six matchup handily, in a matchup that may come down to the margins.

Lundell is now part of a new-look Panthers’ third line that could be the envy of the league, flanked by Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand. Luostarinen-Lundell-Marchand posted 53.95 percent of the expected goals, with a plus-five differential against the Lightning, and were on the ice for four Panthers goals with zero against, at 5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick. Lundell is rapidly improving at getting to the high-danger areas, he has sustained chemistry with Luostarinen and he’s clearly building a highly-effective two-man game with Marchand, where the veteran winger is quickly learning where his linemates want the puck.