Everyone Should be Talking About Panthers' Anton Lundell

Any team that plays in their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final has either a high-powered offense, a shut-down defense or superb goaltending. 

The Florida Panthers have all of those qualities, and it may make them back-to-back Sunshine State champs for the second time ever. With multiple star players on Florida deserving glory for their deep playoff runs, and rightfully so, there's one player who has flown under the radar.

Five seasons ago, the Panthers finished with the NHL's 12th-worst record and, therefore, earned a lottery pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, where they would end up selecting Anton Lundell with the 12th overall pick.

Lundell played for Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Helsingfors (HIFK), a team in Liiga (Finland's top professional hockey league), three seasons before debuting for the Panthers in the 2021-22 regular season, according to EliteProspects.com, and he hasn't looked back since.

In his rookie season, Lundell had career-highs in goals (18) and a plus-minus of +33, which led all rookies that year in what was the groundwork for years to come. 

Three years later, Lundell plays a vital role in a team hoping to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. Since drafting the Espoo, Finland, native five seasons ago, the Panthers have assembled the league's best defensive center duo in the NHL thanks to fellow Fin Aleksander Barkov, and It's been one of the key components for the position they are in today.

 Following a mediocre sophomore season, Lundell was responsible for centering some of the best defensive lines in the NHL. With forward lines logging at least 170 minutes of ice time together during the 2023-24 regular season, Lundell's line had a league-best expected goals against per 60-minute tally of 1.59, oh and Barkov's line was second in that same department, according to MoneyPuck.com.

 Lundell's defensive prowess would carry into the playoffs that season, where he would have the best on-ice expected goals against per 60-minute tally of any Florida center man on a Stanley Cup-winning team that held Leon Draisaitl goalless in a seven-game series, something Lundell definitely had a role in. 

Like everyone else, the Panthers saw one of the game's best young shut-down centers develop in front of their eyes and knew that if they wanted to run things back, they would need Lundell's 200-hundred-foot game for the foreseeable future. 

Just nine days after helping Florida win their first Cup, the Panthers locked up the then-22-year-old Fin to be their shut-down center of the future with a six-year deal with an AAV of $5 million dollars, according to PuckPedia.com.

 Now that contract looks to be a massive bargain for Florida, as Lundell is once again owning his team's best on-ice expected goals against per 60-minute tally of any Panther center man this post-season, but this time added with a touch more offense with the help of his veteran winger. 

The Missing Wingman

When Panthers general manager Bill Zito shocked the hockey world and traded for Brad Marchand at this year's NHL Trade Deadline, Florida head coach Paul Maurice stuck him on Lundell's line with Eetu Luostarinen, a line that quickly transformed into one of the most impactful lines these playoffs. 

Sure, most of the lines goals have come off the stick of Marchand, who is playing some of his best hockey yet who is surely due for a big payday on July 1st, but it's not like Lundell and Luostarinen have been passengers. 

Lundell and Luostarinen have a combined 31 points in 20 games these playoffs, where they have played a part in some of Florida's most significant plays this post-season. 

Lundell got primary assists on both of Marchand's goals in Game 2 on Friday night, including his double-overtime winner.