Lundell is in his second year of NHL Draft eligibility. Last year Central Scouting had him ranked as the 48th best player outside of North America and Neutral Zone had him rated #171.
| Kasper Lundell | HIFK | Liiga | L | C | 5’11” | 176 | Espoo, FIN | 2004 | 2022-2023: C+2021-2022: C+ |
U20: SM-sarja U20: HIFK Helsinki vs Jokerit, December 10, 2022: Lundell totaled 19:09 in ice time including 3:39 while on the power play and 1:39 while shorthanded. Early in the first he showed a quick release accurate snapshot from the top of the circle that beat the goalie cleanly, but rang off the cross bar. He did not need to stickhandle to settle the bouncing sauce pass before letting it rip. During 5on5 in zone cycling he showed a powerful skating base that allowed him to withstand contact and then used a powerful outside edge thrust to create separation. He was a willing net front presence and showed nice hand eye coordination when he deflected a waist height rocket just wide. There were times when his skating posture looked stiff, but he his details away from the puck allowed him to win races to 50/50 pucks against opponents who look pretty while trying to get there. He finished the game -1 off a broken line rush where a loose puck squirted threw his goalie’s legs to the wide side open man, with 3 shots, 2 PP shots, 3 grade “A” opportunities, 8/20 on face-offs and had 1 shot blocked.
U18 World Championships: Finland vs Latvia, April 24, 2022: Lundell totaled 12:19 in ice time including 1:40 while shorthanded. He did not play on the power play. Lundell played forth line even strength minutes, but again his attention to details made him a noticeable penalty killer as he forced continued regroups and was able to get his stick on neutral zone passing attempts. He finished the game even with 0 points, 1 shot, 1 grade “A”, 0 hits, received 1 hard body check, 4 giveaways, 2 takeaways and he won 71% of his 7 puck battles.
U18 World Championships: Finland vs Switzerland, April 23, 2022: Lundell totaled 8:11 in ice time including 0:35 while on the power play and 1:35 while shorthanded. Although he received forth line 5on5 minutes it was hard to discount his impact as a penalty killer as he used his speed and active stick to force poor decisions up the ice to kill valuable time. He finished the game +1 with zero points, 3/5 on face-offs, 1 hit, received 2 hard bodychecks, 6 giveaways, 2 takeaways and he won 40% of his 10 puck battles.
Neutral Zone NHL Draft: Why a draft pick: He has leadership qualities and has worn a letter for HIFK at both the U16 and U17 levels. He plays with the game details demanded by an NHL coaching staff. The “little things” like stopping on pucks, defensive zone awareness and smart angles while defending will allow him to impact an NHL line-up in a bottom six role. Why not a draft pick: As the puck carrier and a left shot he is very content to remain along the left wall through the neutral zone and stay outside of the dot line on zone entries. He is quick laterally and shows deception while cycling below the goal line, but again he seems content to stay below the goal line looking for the perfect play.
U18: Team Finland vs Team Russia at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, August 10, 2021: Lundell played an honest hardworking game that would translate well to North America. He stopped on every puck, battled along the walls and was very detail orientated away from the puck as his head was constantly on a swivel, his stick was in passing lanes and he was always a dependable weakside net front safety net. On the forecheck we liked his angles as an F1 and it was obvious he knew his job was to be disruptive in not letting the Russian defensemen get the net for easy breakouts. Lundell was a constant presence in front of the net and more than willing to take the goalie’s eyes away while on the power play. Although not as highly touted as some of his teammates, he earned more ice time than any other Finnish forward (18:07 TOI).