SUNRISE, Florida– President of Hockey Operations and General Manager of the Florida Panthers Bill Zito announced today that the club has reached an agreement with the striker Anton Lundell on a six-year contract through the 2029-30 season.
“Anton has become a reliable all-around center for our club, seizing his opportunity from his first day in North America,” Zito said. “His commitment to improvement and cerebral approach to the game have earned him the deep respect of his teammates and coaches, and we are excited to see him continue to grow and succeed with the Panthers.”
Lundell, 22, had 35 points (13-22—35), a plus-19 differential and a career-best 54.9 percent faceoff winning percentage in 78 regular-season games with Florida in 2023-24. He skated 97:24 of shorthanded ice time, fifth-most among Panthers forwards on the campaign.
In the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Lundell recorded a career-high three goals, 14 assists and 17 points (3-14—17) in 24 games, tied for second-most assists among Florida skaters, with a plus-eight rating that was behind only Gustave Forsling (plus nine) for the team’s best. He recorded the leading assists on the series-clinching goals in Game 6 of the second round at Boston and in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Rangers.
In the Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton, Lundell led all Panthers skaters with five assists (0-5—5), second behind Evan Rodrigues(3-3-6) for the club’s most points in the championship round. He also had an assist on Carter Verhaeghe The opening goal of game 7.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Espoo, Finland native has 112 points (43-69-112) and a plus-minus rating of plus-minus in 216 career games with the Panthers from 2021-22 to 2023-24, his plus-minus rating second-best among Panthers forwards over that span behindAlexander Barkov(plus-79). In 54 Stanley Cup playoff games over the past three seasons, he has recorded 28 points (6-22-28) and a plus-10 differential.
In his rookie season in 2021-22, Lundell recorded the fourth-most goals by a rookie in franchise history (18), the third-most assists (26) and the fourth-most points (44). His 12 multi-point games tied the most by a rookie in club history. He was named the 2022 Rookie of the Month for January after recording 14 assists and 17 points in 15 games (3-14–17), and he finished sixth in Calder Memorial Trophy voting following the campaign.
Selected by Florida in the first round (12th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Lundell has already played 106 career games for HIFK (2018-19 to 2020-21), recording 72 points (35-37—72) as an alternate captain in his final campaign.
Internationally, Lundell won gold medals for Finland at the 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championship and 2019 IIHF World Under-20 Junior Championship, a silver medal at the 2021 World Championship and a bronze medal at the 2021 WJC where he served as team captain.
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