Lundell selected with 12th pick in NHL draft
Looking to bolster their player pipeline, the Florida Panthers are hoping they found another talented centerman/forward to add to their roster in the coming years.
Holding the 12th selection in Tuesday night’s NHL draft, Florida selected Finnish 19-year-old Anton Lundell.
Lundell spent the 2019-2020 season with HIFK of Finland’s top professional league — Liiga — as he collected 10 goals and 18 assists. The two-way center/forward helped Finland win the 2019World Junior Championship, recording one goal and three assists in seven games played, including an assist on Kaapo Kakko’s game-winning goal in the GoldMedal game.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound left-hander also assisted Finland in winning the Gold at the 2018 Under-18 World Championship. He had two goals and four assists during the competition.
In 2018-2019, Lundell appeared in 38 games with HIFK, registering nine goals and 10 assists. He also appeared in three outings with HIFK
Hockey League.
“Playing in Finland’s top professional league for parts of three seasons as a teenager, Anton has continued to develop into a highly-talented two-way forward,” said newPanthers general manager Bill Zito in a statement. “He is a responsible, cerebral player who possesses great hockey sense and compete. We are thrilled to have selected Anton and are excited for his future.”
Named to the position on Sept. 2 to replace Dale Tallon, Zito spent seven years with the Blue Jackets, holding the role of assistant general manager for six years before last season’s promotion to vice president of hockey operations.
Lundell’s father Jan Lundell competed for 16 seasons as a goaltender in Liiga, and now serves as the goaltending coach for HIFK.
Compared to Aleksander Barkov in its scouting report, NHL.com referred to the Espoo, Finland native as a “mature two-way center with a very good understanding of the game. Playmaker whomakes smart decisions in the
Champions in all three zones. Reliable, solid team player who is trusted by coaches.”
Rather than being held in Montreal, the draftwas held digitally after being rescheduled from June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rounds two through seven will be heldWednesday starting at 11:30 a.m.
Playing an unprecedented role in this year’s draft, the coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of the annual combine, aswell as season-ending tournaments in the minor leagues and college ranks.
Opening up the draft, the New York Rangers selected Canadian 18-year-old leftwingerAlexis Lafreniere with theNo.1pick. The Los Angeles Kings followed by drafting 18-year-old Canadian center Quinton Byfield with the No. 2 pick, while the Ottawa Senators rounded out the top three by picking German 18-year-old left-winger Tim Stutzle.
Florida concluded the 2020 season with a 35-26-8 record before being knocked out in the first round of the expanded playoffs by the New York Islanders.
Theleague opted to increase thenumber of playoff teams from 16 to 22 following the decision to pause the season on March 12 due to concerns about the pandemic.
With seven more potential draft picks, the Panthers’ haul forDay 2 includesNo. 43 (second round), No. 74 (third round), No. 87 (third round), No. 95 (fourth round), No.105 (fourth round), No. 137 (fifth round) andNo. 198 (seventh round).
Through deals with Colorado, Ottawa and Toronto, Florida managed to increase its haul to eight selections, featuring five within the first 100 picks.
Collecting the 95th pick in their most recent set of trades, the Panthers traded defenseman Josh Brown to the Senators last Friday for the selection.
The Panthers also received the 87th pick from the Avalanche in exchange for forward Derick Brassard and a conditional 2020 six-round pick inFebruary 2019, while acquiring the 137th selection from the Maple Leafs in December 2018 for goaltenderMichael Hutchinson.