The Florida Panthers’ celebration continues into July. For the first time in franchise history, they enter the offseason as Stanley Cup Champions, and the parade occurred last Sunday, June 30.
Amid their celebration, free agency finally kicked off, affecting Florida on both sides of the coin. They managed to keep the forward who scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in forward Sam Reinhart, for the next eight years. However, they lost some pieces in Brandon Montour, Ryan Lomberg, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Vladimir Tarasenko.
There was another piece they managed to hold on to. That was forward Anton Lundell. Over the past three seasons, he’s become a key team member both in the regular season and the playoffs. However, he entered the free agency period as a restricted free agent. Earlier this week, he signed a new contract extension for the next six seasons with an annual average of $5 million per season. With everything he’s done for the organization, the extension shows that both sides are committed to keeping the winning culture in South Florida.
Lundell Has Been a Monster Since He Was Drafted
As Bill Zito’s first pick as a general manager, he took Lundell 12th overall in the 2020 draft. Since then, the decision has paid massive dividends for the squad. In 213 regular season games for the Panthers, he’s scored 43 times and piled up 69 assists. He’s been productive in the postseason, as he found the back of the net six times and assisted on 22 others in 54 playoff appearances.
Furthermore, he’s been a great two-way forward as he has main responsibilities on the penalty kill. Last season, he averaged 1:15 on the kill while tallying a shorthanded assist. That is a dramatic decrease from his rookie season when he averaged 2:20 a game down a man. In his career, he has three shorthanded goals and seven shorthanded points overall.
He was excellent in his Cup Run this past summer. Through 24 games, he scored three goals and tallied 14 assists. Additionally, he honed a rating of plus-8. He’s become a key playoff performer for head coach Paul Maurice and company.
Lundell Is Barkov 2.0
As previously mentioned, his two-way game is fantastic. But it is easy to figure out where he sharpened his skills in that environment.
That can be attributed to his captain, Aleksander Barkov, with whom he has played penalty kill minutes since his arrival in Sunrise. And much like him, he can add “Stanley Cup Champion” to his resume. At only 22, he has much more room to grow.
Will Lundell Start Seeing More Top-Six Minutes in the Future?
He was drafted early in the first round in 2020 and has spent every minute of his pro career in the NHL. However, he was always placed on the third line unless Barkov or forward Sam Bennett was injured. In those instances, he would see top-six play.
But he could be seeing it sometime soon. Bennett is entering the last season of his current contract, and it is unknown if he’ll stick around. Also, forwards have been lost from the roster in free agency, making room for new contracts or call-ups from the AHL.
Ultimately, he was drafted for this position. He’s played well in his three seasons, and his contract was well-deserving. But he could be getting a more significant role much faster than anticipated. He should have no problem handling such a responsibility.
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