Are you one of those people afraid of heights? I mean so much that you can barely handle being in the air on an airplane? Well, I am sure that if Anton Lander was one of those people, he isn’t now. The swedish centerman has racked up quite the air miles in his time with the Edmonton Oilers organization, typically flying between Oklahoma City and Edmonton. These flights have carried great hopes and disappointments as Lander has not been able to earn enough trust from the Oilers to be a full-time NHLer. His up and down fortune has plagued him since he entered the organization in 2011/12 season, often looking a little behind the pace of the NHL game. However, despite all the downfalls in his game, Lander has continued to play at a high level in the AHL with the Oilers farm affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons. The heightened performance in OKC has prompted looks at Lander and was once again brought up to the big club this past season, which carried a “now or never” vibe along with it. Lander took to this opportunity in stride and finally showed some significant signs of development.
He has been an anomaly inside the organization. As I touched on above, Lander has never been able to fully establish himself as an NHL regular despite some above average play in the AHL. His game with the Barons in the past few years was raised to such a level that was appointed the team’s captain for a period of time. Hinting at some untapped leadership qualities. It would’ve been easy for the Oilers to cut him loose before he hit his ceiling, similar to how the team shipped out Tobias Reider and Riley Nash, but it seems as though that the Oilers saw more room for development. The team sticking with Lander seems to be paying off as he has upped his NHL game in a big way. The more and more that we saw Lander play in the AHL, the more it became obvious that his skill was surpassing the AHL game. His play became so increasingly noticeable that when the Oilers opted to demote Leon Draisaitl to junior, the Oilers wasted no time in allowing Lander the opportunity to man the third line pivot spot, a role that he has been used in before. Different from past periods of play with the Oilers, Lander would be playing with a familiar coach in Todd Nelson, who coached Lander in Oklahoma. So, with a new chance and a coach that had confidence in him, this seemed like the best chance that ,the often in limbo, Anton Lander would get at establishing a spot in the NHL with the team that drafted him 40th overall in 2009.
That was the situation for Lander. His NHL past was less than beautiful yet, through some hard-work, here he was yet again, ready to prove his worth. Fresh off the aforementioned call up, his latest NHL campaign started on New Years day. He was always known to be a strong two-way player, shown with his time in the AHL, but it never transitioned properly into the NHL. That seemed to change as Lander stepped up his play in the offensive zone in a big-way. In his previous 94 NHL games played, Lander produced a pitiful 8pts and lacked the ability to be a impactful contributor to the team but, come January 2015 and on, you would never had known that. Lander was given the keys to the third line and he hasn’t let off the gas. In 38 games with Edmonton last season, Lander doubled his previous NHL totals and then some, scoring 6 goals and adding on 14 assists for a total of 20 points. The difference in his game wasn’t only seen on the stat sheet, no, Lander was, visually, a more confident and dominant player on the ice. In past years, when I saw Lander get the puck I wouldn’t bat an eye but now, I have a sense of trust with him. The reasons behind why Lander has improved so drastically don’t go beyond the Oilers bench. I am referencing to Todd Nelson of course. Nelson has seen lots of Lander with the Barons and developed a likening to the Swede, so much so, that Lander was named the clubs captain. With Nelson being the intern head coach at the time, Lander was finally playing for someone who had faith in him. He didn’t have to compete for confidence like previous NHL stints. Todd Nelson is, of course, not with the organization anymore but the new wave of management hasn’t made any attempt to replace him so I assume that Chiarelli and co. will continue on with Lander being the team’s 3rd line pivot. As for his coach, Todd McLellan is one of the best around and Lander will only gain from his guidance. His impressive outing helped prolong his Oilers career as he was signed to a two-year extension worth 1.97m shortly after the season came to a close.
We were then offered an extended look at Lander when he joined, fellow teammate, Oscar Klefbom in the Czech Republic to play for their, home country, Sweden in the World Championship. Also on the Swedish roster were current NHLers Filip Forsberg, Louie Eriksson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Even as Lander played behind these players, he still stood out as one of the more premier players for the team throughout the tournament. Through 8 games in the WHC, Lander was third in team scoring with 7pts (trailing only Eriksson and Forsberg). One of the more impressive moments for Lander in the tournament came in the teams quarterfinal elimination against Russia. The Swedes were toppled in a 6-3 loss but Lander was able to have a hand in each of his teams goals, recording a 3pt night. His impressive outing was done with less talented players so it gave fans some hope that Lander will only get better as he matures into his NHL role.
Its been a long time coming for Lander. It would have been very easy to write him off as career AHLer but, through some perseverance and a lot of hard work, Anton was able to force the team to take numerous looks at him. He is now fresh off a new deal and has the opportunity to finally become a NHL regular. A new season is on the horizon, a new season that holds new life for Anton Lander.
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