'I want to be a key player': Anton Lundell looks bigger, stronger, ready to take next step

Lundell is entering his third season with Florida after they selected him 12th overall at the 2020 NHL Draft

Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell has a wealth of hockey experience for someone just 22 years old.

Not only does Lundell have 138 NHL games under his belt, he's skated with some of the best players in the world and in some of the biggest games imaginable.

Now the young Finn is looking to take his game to the next level.

"I want to be a key player on the team," Lundell told THN Florida following Monday's practice. "I want to be a player who the coach can trust and put on the ice whenever. If we need to get a goal, I want to be there, and if we need to defend the goal, I want to be there and help the team in that way."

Lundell is entering his third season with the Panthers after being selected 12th overall at the 2020 NHL Draft.

He's racked up 33 goals and 77 points during his first two seasons with the Cats and showed up to training camp for year three looking like he put on some size and muscle during the summer.

"Oh it looks like it?" Lundell said with a smirk when asked about his mass increase. "That's the goal. It was a very short summer, but I feel like I was able to use it well. I took a good rest after the season but then I started to work hard and work a lot. I feel like I was able to get more muscle and overall I just feel stronger."

Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice thinks Lundell's size increase had less to do with his weight training and more to do with a young man still growing into his body.

"I think it's more natural," Maurice said. "I don't think that he tried to put on mass, I just think as these guys get older they carry more weight."

Growing in size and strength will only help Lundell become a better hockey player.

He's already viewed as one of the top up-and-coming two-way centers in the NHL. Now it's time to fine-tune those skills.

Maurice made it clear that, in terms of growth, there are specific things that he would like to see from Lundell.

"What we're really looking for is for him to develop an ability to separate from people," Maurice said. "He's a good skater, but the burst…to create two or three feet of ice for himself when he changes gears, because his hands and his vision will allow him to do a lot with that with that room he creates."

Lundell understands what his coaches are asking of him.

He also feels confident that, based on his age and where he's at physically, if he continues to work on himself off the ice, it will pay dividends on the ice.

"I feel like I'm still growing, so if I get a little more muscle, I'll get a little faster and a little stronger," Lundell explained. "That will hopefully help me with the game – get a little more speed, stronger with the puck – it should help everything. I feel stronger already than I felt last year, so I'm just trying to keep building."

It's that deep-rooted work ethic and drive to be better that fuels Lundell's fire.

It's been apparent to Maurice, who understands how difficult it is for a young center to not only survive, but thrive in the NHL.

"It's a big thing to come in and play as young as he did at center ice. There's a lot of moving parts," Maurice said. "I thought from the start of the season last year to the playoffs, he just made huge improvements of his intensity in the game, his reads, his physicality and just becoming a pro."

There is no reason to think that Lundell won't continue to grow with the Panthers and under Maurice's tutelage.

As far as Lundell is concerned, it's been a match made in heaven.

He's very happy living in South Florida and playing for the Panthers, but perhaps just as importantly, he's incredibly driven to be the best hockey player he can be in order to help his team be the last one standing.

"It's amazing to play hockey in a place like this," Lundell said. "I'm just trying to give everything I have to the team every day. Like everybody else in this locker room, I just want to win."