ANAHEIM — Isac Lundestrom was not met by adoring, cheering fans upon his Orange County arrival in the summer of 2018, eager to see him lift the Ducks onto his shoulders in the wake of the team’s humiliating first-round playoff defeat at the hands of the rival San Jose Sharks a few months earlier.

Lundestrom was a first-round draft pick, which should have given a hint as to the Ducks’ expectations of him. Their scouting reports on him stressed his excellent skating and puck-handling skills. His statistics while playing for Lulea in the Swedish Hockey League indicated his game was defensive-oriented.

Other recent draft picks, especially Max Comtois, Max Jones, Sam Steel and Troy Terry, seemed ticketed for the roster spots when the Ducks reconvened for training camp after Labor Day. First, though, there was the Rookie Faceoff in Las Vegas for the Ducks’ top young players.

Lundestrom’s play there did nothing to change perceptions of him. He showed his standout skating and puck-handling skills while displaying a commitment to defense. The others, especially Comtois and Terry, seized the spotlight in Las Vegas and the attention going into camp in Anaheim.

Slowly but certainly in the seasons since his arrival as an apple-cheeked 18-year-old from Sweden, Lundestrom has grown into his role, expanded it and excelled at it. He’s among a handful of young players who have emerged this season as potential franchise cornerstones for years to come.

While Lundestrom is eligible to become a restricted free agent at season’s end, it seems likely he’ll be staying put in Orange County for the foreseeable future.

Only 22, he has scored 12 goals in 53 games this season, doubling his career high set last season in 41 games. Four of his goals have come while the Ducks were shorthanded, tying Corey Perry’s franchise record for a season. He also has 12 assists for a total of 24 points, a career-best at any level.

“He’s making offensive plays for us, as well, but he’s one of our best penalty killers and defensive players,” said Ducks right wing Rickard Rakell, a fellow Swede. “So, he’s playing a great two-way game for us. I’m sure that’s given him a lot of confidence just knowing what his job is every night. He makes great reads with the puck. He sees the ice really well. It shows on the penalty kill where a lot of times he takes the puck and skates it all the way or he keeps it within the team to kill off time.”

Ducks coach Dallas Eakins got his first look at Lundestrom while coaching the rookies in Las Vegas and as coach of the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Eakins has had a front-row seat as Lundestrom has grown, literally and figuratively, in the nearly four years since his arrival.

“Well, number one, just adapting to the North American game,” Eakins said when asked what stands out about Lundestrom’s progress. “He had played one way his whole life. Now, to ask him to play a different way, it takes time. It takes patience and it also takes a lot of commitment and discipline on his behalf.

“It’s like night and day to watch his game now.”

Like many Swedes, Lundestrom learned to play a possession game that stressed a coordinated attack. He would latch onto the puck at center ice and immediately circle back to survey the scene even if the numbers were in his team’s favor. He wasn’t trained to charge ahead with the puck.

“When we first got him, he was probably the player I’ve seen bring the puck back the most,” Eakins said of those days in San Diego. “We’d (pass) the puck to him in the neutral zone and he’d bring it straight back and try to get speed. We’d already beaten them, but now we’re going to come back and beat them again.”

Eakins had to pull that part of Lundestrom’s game out of him. To watch Lundestrom now, in his role as the Ducks’ third-line center and one of their top two-way players, you couldn’t tell if he was from Sweden or Saskatchewan. The transformation to the NHL game is almost complete.

“That improvement has been so, so good,” Eakins said.

Confidence has played a central role in Lundestrom’s evolution as an NHL player as he’s added strength in his legs as he has grown into an adult. He’s stronger and sturdier than when he arrived in 2018. His skills have improved, especially the subtle aspects related to puck control.

“I want to help the team in both ways,” Lundestrom said, referring to the offensive and defensive sides of the game. “I’ve never been a very offensive player, but I know I have some skills. I always liked to play with the puck back home in Sweden. Of course, I want to keep doing that, but I think one big thing I’ve learned here is to be a little bit more straightforward to the net.”

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Lundestrom’s skating, the building block of his game, has improved, too. He appears to be taking more powerful strides than in past seasons. Best of all, as far as the Ducks are concerned, he’s not satisfied. He sounded determined to improve during a recent interview.

“I think I’ve always been strong in my legs,” he said. “I’ve been working on that in the offseason. Of course, you always want to be better and feel stronger. It’s helped with my self-confidence, too. I want to keep driving my legs a little more and I want to improve it, too.

“I want to get a little bit more speed in my first strides.”