Most teams have one No. 1 center, the Florida Panthers have options.

A true No 1 center can separate a contender from a pretender, especially when games tighten and space disappears.

Recent Cup winners all had that guy driving the bus, not just scoring, but tilting matchups and calming the chaos.

For Florida, that job normally belongs to Aleksander Barkov, the backbone of their two way identity.

But Barkov's knee surgery changed the entire season, and it forced the Panthers to find answers down the middle.

Anton Lundell has stepped into that spot far smoother than most people expected, and it has not looked temporary.

Through 49 games, he has 15-20-35, already matching last season's point total in far fewer nights.

The pace is real, and the confidence is showing, he is attacking more off the rush and finishing around the net.

The workload is the loudest sign, his average ice time is 19:21, a huge jump from the sheltered third line nights earlier in his career.

Fans can feel it too, the team looks patched up, but it does not look lost when Lundell takes the tough shifts.

He is 24, drafted in 2020, 12th overall by Florida, and this is the season where «future» turns into «right now.»

The two way details have followed him up the lineup, including a 52.3 faceoff percentage while taking more critical draws.

He is not just playing more, he is playing heavier, starting sequences in hard spots and still getting the puck moving north.

His career highs before this were 18-26-44 back in 2021-22, and Florida has been waiting for him to push past that ceiling.

Now he is doing it while facing top lines, which is the real No 1 center tax that never shows up in a highlight pack.

The Florida Panthers have a luxury most teams can't even fake, they can roll out two true No. 1 centers.

When Aleksander Barkov is back, it won't just «help,» it changes the entire matchup game in a playoff series.

You can throw Barkov at the other team's best, still keep a top-line threat driving offense on another line, and suddenly Florida is coming in waves shift after shift.

In the postseason, when coaches hunt weaknesses and fatigue stacks up fast, that kind of center depth becomes a real edge, the kind that wins tight games and flips a series in six instead of seven

Sam Bennett only deepens that advantage. Even if you label him «2C» on paper, he plays like an elite center in the games that matter, heavy on pucks, fearless in traffic, and built for playoff shifts.

Add Bennett to Barkov plus Florida's other top option, and suddenly the Panthers aren't just strong down the middle, they're brutally deep, the kind of center spine that wears teams out over a series.

If Lundell holds this level, the Panthers stay in the hunt even while the lineup keeps changing around him.

The next step is staying dangerous when opponents game plan for him, because the league adjusts fast when you become the first option.