C/LW Anton Lundell - IFK Helsinki, Liiga (2020 Draft)

[JoukoPouko]

7 months ain’t **** though.

I never said it was **** but 7 months is 7 months, and it's actually a significant amount of time for young players.

 

[kelsier]

Lundell has been more impressing than The Eagle when compared to latter's last (D) year in FEL and I watched both very closely. Also unlike the Eagle, Lundell has played C throughout the year. I think these seasons are more comparable than their actual D years due to the age factor (with Lundell being a late born and ~10 months older), but even then Lundell would have a 2 months advantage. It does matter when you're over half a year older than a peer, of that I don't have any doubts.

Definitely not saying Lundell will turn better, cause development is never linear and what Eagle is doing right now in the NHL is amazing. It does however indicate towards Lundell having equal or higher ceiling, if all goes as planned. We'll see in the next 5 years or so. I don't mind the results as far as who's coming out on top (at least unless Lundell gets drafted into one of my favourite NHL teams, ha).

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Not in fact even disagreeing with you necessarily. I have liked Kotkaniemi very, very much for at least two years already. I’m not really even that much surprised how good he has been in the NHL. The dude has sky high hockey IQ, just like Lundell in fact, which is the biggest reason why I love them both so much as Finnish prospects. Could very well even be that Kotkaniemi will after all be the best Finnish center in 4 years. I absolutely can see that happening.

Aho and Barkov are crazy good but if Kotkaniemi and even Lundell can top that, wow.

 

[Ippenator]

Aho and Barkov are crazy good but if Kotkaniemi and even Lundell can top that, wow.

Lets see though. I’m not promising it of course. But both of them have truly sky high hockey IQ, so they might really have the chance to make it happen after all.

Aho has super high hockey IQ and to me it is a notch better than Barkov’s (whom has definitely very high hockey IQ, but Barkov has the best hands and a magnificent combination of size and skill. But still the most important skill in hockey is hockey IQ, and even though Barkov has also high hockey IQ, I see it a notch below Aho, Kotkaniemi and Lundell. But Barkov’s strengths together with also pretty high hockey IQ, do make him a very good player, and very difficult to top by any Finnish prospects.

But the guys with even higher hockey IQ’s than Barkov are definitely the ones that might be capable of passing him eventually. Aho has in my opinion already done it this season and is at the moment the best Finnish center and in general the best Finnish player.

But as I already have mentioned, both Kotkaniemi and Lundell have extremely high hockey IQ and they have a pretty big frame too. If they can both get their skating and physical condition around what Barkov has nowadays, they should both become eventually better centers than Barkov.

They definitely have a long road ahead of them for that ever happening, but they both are also very smart and both have very good, professional and positive attitudes, which I see as the biggest bonus with all the other important skills on the ice.

 

[MarVell]

Lundell shouldn't be compared to Barkov. He's just not at that level. He's not even at the Kaapo Kakko level, and there's a bit of a gap between Kakko and Barkov as well. Barkov was almost 7 months younger than Kakko during his draft season, so Kakko would need to destroy Barkov's numbers to get to that level.

That doesn't make them any worse. Kakko can still go #1 or #2 while not being at Barkov's level. Lundell can still go in top-5 while not being close to their level.

You just said it did...

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Sens really need a top end center. Hoping we nab Lundell or Byfield next year.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Nice goal for Lundell vs Ässät yesterday's SM liiga game.
Lundell's regular season totals 19 points ( 9+10) in 38 games.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Nice goal for Lundell vs Ässät yesterday's SM liiga game.
Lundell's regular season totals 19 points ( 9+10) in 38 games.

Jesus, why is the quality so bad in these clips

 

[kelsier]

Barkov almost a year younger...

Yeah, this can often get overlooked. Basically one could argue that most comparable seasons for Barkov and Lundell so far are Barkov's D and Lundell's D-1, due to the massive age difference as far as the draft eligibility/"deadline" is concerned. Barkov was just a man-child and like a trunk almost as soon as he stepped into the pro rink. Most kids don't have this type of near unnatural physical development/benefit.

Nonetheless they do have some similarities starting from being excellent defensive zone players and having that much appreciated two-way game, along with high hockey IQ. Said this before but I really like Lundell's offensive approach. He's got a great finishing touch around the net and is well equipped with scoring goals. Yesterday's goal makes a nice example, he does this little spin-o-rama move to steal the puck, creating a 2 on 1 where instead of trying to connect to his team mate, he just puts the puck top shelf. Meanwhile Barkov was always looking for a pass and being too unselfish for his own good (a habit they've tried to get rid of in the Panthers). At the end it's just way too early to tell if he's ever going to come near Barkov's heights and generally speaking, the odds certainly are not working for him (nor 99,99% of other kids). We'll have to wait for a couple of years and see what happens. Right now at least we can say that Lundell just looks like highly gifted prospect.

Anyway, it just occurred to me that I think it was the first time ever I remember a D-1 player defending the lead in the WJC finals at the dying minutes. To me that alone speaks volumes. With a season like this, he's going to have a huge role next year and should already become one of the best centers in the league. Can't even imagine how happy the organization must be knowing he'll be there yet another season.

 

[ijuka]

Jesus, why is the quality so bad in these clips

Right? Making full HD videos for twitter is really easy, so frustrating seeing 240p garbage in this day and age.

What I'm hoping for is that Lundell progresses his offensive game a little. He plays a really nice, complete game but it's true that his offensive upsides is a bit of a question mark.

 

[JoukoPouko]

Right? Making full HD videos for twitter is really easy, so frustrating seeing 240p garbage in this day and age.

What I'm hoping for is that Lundell progresses his offensive game a little. He plays a really nice, complete game but it's true that his offensive upsides is a bit of a question mark.

It is actually a full HD video. For some reason, Twitter messes up the first few seconds of it, though. Please let me know how to post full HD videos without Twitter messing them up.

 

[fr9dd9]

Right? Making full HD videos for twitter is really easy, so frustrating seeing 240p garbage in this day and age.

What I'm hoping for is that Lundell progresses his offensive game a little. He plays a really nice, complete game but it's true that his offensive upsides is a bit of a question mark.

I think the offence is there, no worries.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Hölmöilyä? HIFK-taituri kuumeni - lensi suihkuun vastustajan telomisesta | Leijonat.
Not like this Anton.
Took 5+20 penalty for slashing vs Pelicans in liiga playoffs today.

HIFK saa rangaistuksen
Here's the video of Lundell's 5+20 penalty.
Worth of suspension or not.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Hölmöilyä? HIFK-taituri kuumeni - lensi suihkuun vastustajan telomisesta | Leijonat.
Not like this Anton.
Took 5+20 penalty for slashing vs Pelicans in liiga playoffs today.

HIFK saa rangaistuksen
Here's the video of Lundell's 5+20 penalty.
Worth of suspension or not.

Should get suspended. That's pretty bad.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Should get suspended. That's pretty bad.

Yes it looked bad.
That should be suspension absolutely.

First Santala and now Lundell HIFK really lacks discipline in this playoff series and that's coaching problem.
HIFK's team isn't under the control by head coach Jarno Pikkarainen.

 

[toxic poster]

maybe i am really higho n Lundell but he's my 2nd rated prospect after Lafreniere as of this moment leading up to 2020. the potential is limitless for him imo

 

[Nocashstyle]

maybe i am really higho n Lundell but he's my 2nd rated prospect after Lafreniere as of this moment leading up to 2020. the potential is limitless for him imo

This past WJC he was the player I was impressed with most. Small sample size obviously, but I was more impressed with Lundell than Hughes, Kakko, or Lafreniere.

If the Devils are garbage again next year, I hope they luck into him.

 

[toxic poster]

This past WJC he was the player I was impressed with most. Small sample size, obviously, but I was more impressed with Lundell than Hughes, Kakko, or Lafreniere.

If the Devils are garbage again next year, I hope they luck into him.

He's gonna be great wherever he goes. Everytime I see him play I'm like "wow that's Kopitar on steroids." His biggest detractor I've seen is his skating, where he's still above average to good for guys his own age.

I love the kid's hockey IQ, you can just tell he's 2 steps ahead of everyone else on the ice.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Lundell's goal vs Canada today.
Clearly one of the best Finns in Canada game good 0-3 goal and also 2 caused penalties to Canada.
It clearly shows this Finnish kid has played in SM liiga this season.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Clearly one of the best players in the tournament.

It was also quite funny to see how massive puckhog he suddenly became compared to what we've seen in U20/Liiga. Probably has something to do with how much better he is than anyone else on the ice so he doesn't always go for the simple play on the ice.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

Clearly one of the best players in the tournament.

It was also quite funny how massive puckhog he suddenly became compared to what we've seen in U20/Liiga. Probably has something to do with how much better he is than anyone else on the ice. Funny how it goes sometimes.

Yeah, in Liiga he was very quick to move the puck, today he was very selfish at times. Seems to have taken a step forward in skating, though.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Leijonat - Anton Lundell liittyi pikavauhtia Pikkuleijonien MM-joukkueeseen – "Pitää taas saada kroppa käyntiin"
Lundell's interview before U18 WJC's.
Does he by the way look a bit bigger in those pictures or is it only my eyes which are lying.

 

[ijuka]

Yeah, in Liiga he was very quick to move the puck, today he was very selfish at times. Seems to have taken a step forward in skating, though.

Early in the game he was great, later on he was too selfish, indeed. For him though, there's a bit of an adjustment period as he just joined the team and was probably winging it. I hope he'll show a bit stronger play in the future.

 

[1OApick]

I was super impressed that he adapted so quickly to juniors. In Liiga he played really mature game to succeed and in juniors he took more of that dominating mentality. Really impressive player. He is going to have great tournament.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Anton Lundell
Newest player profile and scouting notes of Anton Lundell after yesterday's Canada vs Finland game.