Anton Lundell is making a strong first impression on Panthers. ‘He’s got that it factor’

It made for a nice photo opportunity and a cute moment for a teenager thrust into the spotlight in a major city, but Anton Lundell didn’t pick Pablo Lopez’s brain for tips at loanDepot park just out of courtesy or because of the play it would get on social media before he threw out the first pitch before a Miami Marlins game Sept. 7.

Lundell didn’t want to just get through his ceremonial first pitch. He wanted to do it well.

“I was pretty happy,” the rookie said after successfully getting a ball over the plate to Jazz Chisholm Jr.

This is who Lundell is. The Florida Panthers expected it based on the center’s track record in Finland, and now they’re seeing it firsthand.

Lundell, 19, spent the weekend at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs for their development camp. On Saturday, he will take the ice for his first competitive game as a Panther, suiting up as one of 24 rookies in a Prospect Showcase Tournament in Wesley Chapel.

So far, he has lived up to all expectations.

“We’re very impressed with him,” vice president of player personnel and development Gregory Campbell said Tuesday. “He’s one of those players and people that you just kind of know he’s got ‘it.’ He’s got that ‘it’ factor.”

It’s what helps explain his meteoric rise in the last four years.

In 2018, Lundell won a gold medal at the 2018 IIHF World U18 Championships, then made his professional debut a few months later in Finland’s Liiga and scored 19 points in 38 games as a rookie. He followed it up by winning gold at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and scoring 28 points in 44 games in his second season before the COVID-19 pandemic cut it short.

Florida took him with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Earlier this year, he added two more medals — a bronze at the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and a silver at the 2021 World Ice Hockey Championships. He was the captain of the World Juniors team and, as a 19-year-old playing in one of the top leagues in the world, he was an alternate captain for HIFK Hockey last season.

“He makes players around him better,” defenseman Max Gildon said Monday. “I’m just kind of looking forward to being able to give him the puck and watch him do his thing.”

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Lundell arrived in South Florida around the start of September, trying to get settled in a new home — a new country — before a nonstop hockey season began with a rookie camp last week.

If all goes as planned, Lundell’s season could run all the way into next June, and he’s positioned to play a major role virtually the entire way. He and goaltender Spencer Knight will be Florida’s two stars when it opens play in the Prospect Tournament on Saturday, then he will jump right into his first training camp, spend the preseason fighting for a roster spot and, in all likelihood, carve out a role as the third- or fourth-line center. There’s a good chance he’ll find himself in the race for the Calder Memorial Trophy and, if not, he will at least be contributing to a team with real Stanley Cup aspirations. In the middle of it all, Lundell will probably take a quick sojourn to Beijing to play with Finland in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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He will also turn 20 in October.

“The maturity and the character he’s shown at such a young age,” Campbell said, “it’s something that you almost can’t teach.”

It all feeds into an expectation for Lundell to be NHL-ready. He has been playing against grown men since he was 16 and holding his own. By the time he signed his entry-level contract with Florida in June, Lundell was among the best players in Finland’s top league.

He still has a few things to do before his rookie season begins — getting a Florida driver’s license “is first on the to-do list,” he said — but the focus for now is getting ready for the season.

“I’m just trying to show how good I can play, and just try to do my best every practice and every time I work here. My goal is to help the team win games and of course I just try to improve my game all the time,” Lundell said Saturday. “I’m really excited. It’s always been my dream to play here and now I’m now one step closer.”