Four Year Anthony Mantha is a Win-Win for Red Wings

26-year-old Mantha is Red Wings Cornerstone

This signing comes on the heels of Tyler Bertuzzi signing a one-year contract through salary arbitration. It was not known whether or not this would impact how Mantha felt about signing an extension with the Red Wings. Would he feel that he is worth more because he is the team’s goals-per-game leader since the 2016-2017 season or be self-aware enough to know that he has not played a full season in his five-year career?

Mantha Important to Red Wings Roster

While injuries are a part of the NHL game, Mantha is coming off of a season in which he only played 43 games for the Red Wings. During a scrum with Toronto Maple Leafs Jake Muzzin, he appeared to be slew-footed and hit his head on the ice. He had a concussion and estimated that he would miss seven to 10 days.

What was not known at the time was that he also had a punctured lung. This is why Mantha would wind up missing 27 games in a season where the team would only win 17 games. Prior to this, he also broke his hand during the 2018-2019 season after fighting his now-teammate Patrick Nemeth. This fight came after Nemeth hit Dylan Larkin and Mantha came to his defense. While this is admirable, Mantha is far too important to this Red Wings team to put himself in this position.

The 26-year-old from Longueuil, Canada recorded back to back seasons of 48 points in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons. He played nearly a full 82 game season in 2017-2018 during this season. During these two seasons, he averaged 24.5 goals.

The brightest spot for Mantha during the 2019-2020 season happened during the home opener against the eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Stars on October 6, 2019. Mantha would score four goals becoming the first Red Wing to accomplish this feat since Johan Franzen on February 2, 2011. This is clearly the ceiling for Mantha that is only hampered by injuries and the lack of talent on the roster around the 26-year-old.

Injuries aside, at 6’5” and 234 pounds, Mantha is highly-skilled and uses this skill to drive to the net. He has played the best when paired with Larkin and Bertuzzi. Being drafted 20^th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, he ranks seventh in goals among his draft class. If Mantha can stay healthy, along with the number of moves that the Red Wings have made during the off-season in free agency, the team will be better than the 17 wins that was historically bad in the COVID-shortened 2019-2020 season.

What Does This Deal Mean for Red Wings Moving Forward?

This contract means that Steve Yzerman sees the 26-year-old as a part of the Red Wings’ future. ‘He’s one of our best players, a key player on our team,’ Yzerman said on a Zoom call with the media on Tuesday. The two recent signings are important for the Red Wings rebuild as the team has not made the playoffs since the 2015-2016 season. The team needs to add pieces around the cornerstone of Mantha in order to one day compete for a playoff spot again.

It is not known when the 2020-2021 season will begin. The league does not know whether or not crowds will be in attendance for NHL games during this season. If Red Wings fans are able to see their team in person for the first time since March, they will see a team that will compete on the ice every night.