Silver Nuggets: Who is Mike Lundin?

The Ottawa Senators made headlines July 1 when they went out and signed Swedish Superstar Mats Sundin.... wait, no. That's not right. OOOH! Mike LUNDIN. Silly me.

Wait. Who is Mike Lundin?

Mike is a 28 year old defenceman from Apple Valley in the US of A. He went to the University of Maine before making it to the NHL after being selected in the 4th round by the Tampa Bay Lightning. His NHL resume is not shockingly impressive by any stretch of the imagination, but he is a veteran of 241 NHL games to go along with 18 playoff games and 80 games in the AHL.

From his numbers at the NHL level, you can tell he isn't a bruiser by any stretch of the imagination, racking up only 54 PIMs in his career. Nor is he the second coming of King Erik Karlsson, with just 4 career goals and 35 career points. His AHL numbers give an indication that he may have some offensive upside, but I wouldn't be expecting a hat-trick tonight.

But I'm no expert and I cannot recall having seen Lundin play much in his career. Here are a couple scouting reports, the first from Cory Pronman, from back when Mike was a prospect, the second from the Hockey News.

Lundin is a skilled defenseman who possesses exceptional playmaking abilities and athleticism. While he has good size, he could stand to bulk up. He is an excellent skater with good acceleration. Possesses some good hands and great passing ability. He also shows tremendous confidence with the puck. He can be utilized in every type of situation, including quarterbacking the power play. He possesses very good vision and hockey sense. He is positionally solid. Possesses a good, hard shot. He makes excellent outlet passes, has the ability to both jump up into plays and lead the rush up the ice. Possesses a great attitude and seemingly tireless work ethic.

Assets:	Has good mobility, sound instincts and hockey smarts. Limits his mistakes in the defensive zone and moves the puck efficiently.
Flaws:	Doesn't own the top-end skills to produce good offensive numbers. Isn't very physical and needs to keep getting stronger in order to better handle big NHL forwards.
Career Potential:	Mobile depth defenseman.

Cool. Looking forward to seeing him in action!

Sens Links:

• Top 25 Under 25 reaches #7 #8 (if you can't make fun of yourself...) with Patrick Wiercioch, who will be a scratch tonight. [SSS]
• Daniel Alfredsson loves what he is seeing from fellow Swedes Mika Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg. [Sens]
• I just love Erik Karlsson. Here he is talking about all the minutes he has been playing. [SE]
• Prediction Panel. Dear Peter says win, SO WE WIN. [SE]
• And here is Alfie giving his old friend Wade Redden some love on his 1000th game. Heck of a story. [SE]
• Touch delayed but scoring chances from game against Buffalo. [6thSens]