Player Talk: Anthony Mantha

Dotter

THE ATHLETIC IS GARBAGE
Jul 2, 2014
8,437
2,879
Imprisonment, TN
goo.gl
I have a feeling, after reading some of these posts, people are going to jump off the bandwagon like they did {ever so fast} with Larkin if he hits his obligatory sophomore slump.
 

Pavels Dog

Registered User
Feb 18, 2013
19,735
14,704
Sweden
I have a feeling, after reading some of these posts, people are going to jump off the bandwagon like they did {ever so fast} with Larkin if he hits his obligatory sophomore slump.
Mantha is older, more experienced, and his rookie season showed better signs of being sustainable.
 

Number1RedWingsFan52

Registered User
Mar 17, 2013
40,243
6,036
Winter Haven Florida
I have a feeling, after reading some of these posts, people are going to jump off the bandwagon like they did {ever so fast} with Larkin if he hits his obligatory sophomore slump.

Mantha had 36 points in 60 games this past season, No way can i see him doing any worse then that. In a full 80 game schedule there's no reason he shouldn't put up at least 50 points or more. The only way he's having a sophomore slump is if he misses tons of games due to injury he will at the very least put up the exact same numbers as last season.
 

BinCookin

Registered User
Feb 15, 2012
6,160
1,377
London, ON
Mantha had 36 points in 60 games this past season, No way can i see him doing any worse then that. In a full 80 game schedule there's no reason he shouldn't put up at least 50 points or more. The only way he's having a sophomore slump is if he misses tons of games due to injury he will at the very least put up the exact same numbers as last season.

to be honest, Z is a bigger factor in Larkin's point totals and Mantha's point totals than anything they did on thier own.
 

ArGarBarGar

What do we want!? Unfair!
Sep 8, 2008
44,017
11,677
to be honest, Z is a bigger factor in Larkin's point totals and Mantha's point totals than anything they did on thier own.

Larkin? Maybe. Mantha? I don't see it as much.

Mantha is a smarter player than Larkin and a craftier player to boot. It will remain to be seen how they progress as Zetterberg regresses, but I think Mantha will prove he earns his points more than others.
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
40,956
11,575
Ft. Myers, FL
Larkin? Maybe. Mantha? I don't see it as much.

Mantha is a smarter player than Larkin and a craftier player to boot. It will remain to be seen how they progress as Zetterberg regresses, but I think Mantha will prove he earns his points more than others.

Mantha is a tougher chalk talk player. He has a diversity to his game. He has high level hands and hockey IQ. If you back off he has the shot, vision and passing to burn you. If you crowd him he has the ability to protect the puck and still make plays. He isn't the same instructions that slowed Larkin who is hopefully learning those lessons.

Being told Larkin is going to blow by you and seeing it for the first time are two different things. People got better at directing him outside last year. I saw him making adjustments, but really Larkin needs to play in heavy traffic better. I think he will bounce back, I liked his World Championships and I hope he built off that this summer. I am not worried about Dylan Larkin working to get better and that is part of why I don't think last year was the end of the world.

Mantha just needs to skate hard and compete night in and night out. His other talents are there, including a powerful skating stride for a guy his size. He has a heavy frame and plus skills all over the place offensively. He just isn't a fun guy to play against. In that sense he has several things in his arsenal and he is tougher to take away.

I don't really see the dip in his numbers coming barring injury.

I really think he should do 25 and 25 at least this year.
 

dragonballgtz

Registered User
Jul 30, 2014
1,883
847
I just hope he plays most games with passion, like he wants to be here. Last year he had his stretches where it looked like he did not give two f's out there.
 

golffuul

Registered User
Oct 24, 2011
4,923
2,784
I just hope he plays most games with passion, like he wants to be here. Last year he had his stretches where it looked like he did not give two f's out there.

The Blashill Effect. Hard to remain professional when you are always preached Accountability and the coach doesn't do it.
 

ArGarBarGar

What do we want!? Unfair!
Sep 8, 2008
44,017
11,677
I just hope he plays most games with passion, like he wants to be here. Last year he had his stretches where it looked like he did not give two f's out there.

I don't see it. You don't have to be going balls to the wall every shift to be making the right decisions out there.

Reminds me a lot of how people went after Franzen as soon as he got his new contract.
 

Frk It

Mo Seider Less Problems
Jul 27, 2010
36,201
14,682
I don't see it. You don't have to be going balls to the wall every shift to be making the right decisions out there.

Reminds me a lot of how people went after Franzen as soon as he got his new contract.

Eh, had nothing to do with the contact, IMO. Had waaaaay more to do with the dude looking like an absolute world-beater in the playoffs.

Franzen was a very talented player. He showed us he had it in him to be an elite force in this league. Then he would just disappear for stretches where he looked pretty uninterested.

There may be a very legit excuse for that with the head injuries and some of the things I’ve heard, but to get that kind of highs and lows from the same player is always going to drive fans nuts.
 

ArGarBarGar

What do we want!? Unfair!
Sep 8, 2008
44,017
11,677
I don't think Franzen was ever the kind of player who could be an elite force. He had a great stretch where everything was going in for him, but as a guy with a limited amount of tools (mainly a big body and a good sense of where to be around the net and in the corners) I think the potential was overstated. Couple that with the anxiety issues that he himself discussed and he was a long shot even after his 2008 and 2009 seasons. As one of his biggest fans I admit I got carried away with his highs and assumed he had the ability to carry that through a larger portion of the ice and be a more dominant player out there.

Either way my point about comparing Franzen and Mantha is the similarities in how they play the game (though Mantha has more talent and a bigger toolset in my opinion) and how a scoring winger of that size is going to come across as lazy at times. Mantha has already been accused of that since getting scratched and the narrative being around his lack of a commitment to defensive play.

And who knows, maybe I am picking a new favorite player like I did with Franzen and am overlooking his deficiencies.
 

Frk It

Mo Seider Less Problems
Jul 27, 2010
36,201
14,682
I don't think Franzen was ever the kind of player who could be an elite force. He had a great stretch where everything was going in for him, but as a guy with a limited amount of tools (mainly a big body and a good sense of where to be around the net and in the corners) I think the potential was overstated. Couple that with the anxiety issues that he himself discussed and he was a long shot even after his 2008 and 2009 seasons. As one of his biggest fans I admit I got carried away with his highs and assumed he had the ability to carry that through a larger portion of the ice and be a more dominant player out there.

Either way my point about comparing Franzen and Mantha is the similarities in how they play the game (though Mantha has more talent and a bigger toolset in my opinion) and how a scoring winger of that size is going to come across as lazy at times. Mantha has already been accused of that since getting scratched and the narrative being around his lack of a commitment to defensive play.

And who knows, maybe I am picking a new favorite player like I did with Franzen and am overlooking his deficiencies.

Meh, I always thought he was a pretty talented player. Had a heavy shot, was a pretty underrated passer, and was a good puck protector. Why I was always hard on him, but I also was always a fan of his at the same time.

With Mantha, compete level was the knock on him going back to when he was 17 in his draft season, so it will probably always be there to be honest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheMule93

SpookyTsuki

Registered User
Dec 3, 2014
15,916
671
When franzen started the season saying he was going to try every game he played he was a monster and then he got hit And it was over for him.

He never got the respect he deserved
 

Frk It

Mo Seider Less Problems
Jul 27, 2010
36,201
14,682
Are you serious? More like Connor Brown for Mantha

giphy.gif


(dottter's deal was awful too)
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Zetterberg Era

MR4

Registered User
Oct 20, 2014
6,270
2,253
Lol Giacomo, the price would be closer to Kadri than Brown
 

lomekian

Registered User
Oct 28, 2013
1,871
891
London
He played more games but is also younger than manta

Who is already better than Brown will ever he and has the potential to be a PPG player if he has good enough teammates. With a Lidstron on the back end he'd be a very very happy chap.

As for those talking about Franzen, the criticism he got was ridiculous. Basically the guy got slagged off for not being Hossa.

25-30 goalscorers who are defensively sound and can work well with multiple linemates are worth more than he ever got paid. Not his fault that the NHL took far too long to outlaw hits to head. He really took some dirty cheap shots because opponent s were scared of him.
 

BinCookin

Registered User
Feb 15, 2012
6,160
1,377
London, ON
Always liked Franzen 0.75 PPG player. Heavier on the goals. Big man. Sadly concussions ruined his career.

Mantha will not be traded. Also our GM doesn't make trades really, so trying to steal a Detroit player (our fans more likely to agree to a deal than our GM will) LOL.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->