Salary Cap: AA and Mantha's next contracts

[Tetsuo]

AA and Mantha are going going to pushing 6mil a season, if not more, especially if they aren't signed until after this season. They about to have career years.

6 million for 5 years would be reasonable if they had 30/30 seasons. I think the closest comparable would be Jake Guentzel, who plays on the Wing, is about the same age, and signed under a similar cap. Their agents will obviously push for more, but it is going to be on Mantha and AA to demonstrate they are worth that kind of dollar this season.

 

[MBH]

Gonna have to disagree on AA being an 80 point player. His Hockey IQ will never be good enough to be a 40/40 type player. I could see him peaking as a faster Jeff Skinner, who has great quickness and goal scoring ability, but his overall play is not well rounded enough (again IMO) to be one of the key players on a team. Admittedly, this year will be a huge year for him, I think he has potential still to be a 35+ goal scorer, but at this point I feel like we have seen the kind of player AA is.

He just went 30-24-54 from line 2, playing mostly with Nielsen or Glendening.
How many NHLers do you think could do that?

So yeah, I think 40-35-75 is completely possible with
1) Better center/linemates, will allow him to score more and get more assists.
2) Better defense for breakout passes, less time spent in dzone.
3) Better powerplay would result in more points.
4) Increase in icetime.

 

[Retire91]

If they get 6ish each I would rather see 2-3 year contracts. I just don't want to end up with another underperforming top 6 contract, not saying I expect either player to not end up worth it just tired enough of dead weight on the roster I don't want to take the chance.

 

[deca guard]

im still fuming that holland didnt reconize mantha is the type player you gamble on with a long as can be contract because hes a very rare breed of size-ruggedness-shot-confidence . but no , kenny wanted him to skate 200' north / 200' south constantly like hes a 5'10'' 185 lb grinder when in reality its just like on a football field a lineman isnt going to be able to move like a db . so holland undervalued him to now end up having to pay more or lose to ufa in a few years. good riddance holland . but he locked up long term abs-dekes-neilsen

 

[Mijatovic]

LOL we have like 3 scorers on this team and people want to move out 1 of them in AA?? Yeah if we can keep him we definitely should. I like both but neither should be spectacularly overpaid.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

im still fuming that holland didnt reconize mantha is the type player you gamble on with a long as can be contract because hes a very rare breed of size-ruggedness-shot-confidence . but no , kenny wanted him to skate 200' north / 200' south constantly like hes a 5'10'' 185 lb grinder when in reality its just like on a football field a lineman isnt going to be able to move like a db . so holland undervalued him to now end up having to pay more or lose to ufa in a few years. good riddance holland . but he locked up long term abs-dekes-neilsen

Mantha and his camp admitted openly they were interested in a bridge. It takes two to tango and Mantha has bet on himself. With his form since the calendar turned to 2019 it is starting to look like a wise bet. We are going to be buying out UFA years, I think these guys if they have big years are making more than Larkin whether or not this board likes it.

 

[Henkka]

Mantha is just fine if he wouldn't break his hand every year in a meaningless fight.

 

[Henkka]

LOL we have like 3 scorers on this team and people want to move out 1 of them in AA?? Yeah if we can keep him we definitely should. I like both but neither should be spectacularly overpaid.

Do you really think, if moving one of the players, the value just disappears from the roster?

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Sign Mantha sensibly but probably longer term because I can see him wanting to stay here but AA I don’t think has ever really felt like he wanted a long term future here

 

[Mlotek]

Sign Mantha sensibly but probably longer term because I can see him wanting to stay here but AA I don’t think has ever really felt like he wanted a long term future here

More like Red Wing fans have been looking for a reason to run him out of town for the past 4 seasons.

Kinda how they ran Hudler out of town.

 

[MBauer]

Athanasiou's speed and ability to make plays at high speed make every line he is on a scoring threat. He is a lot more than secondary scoring. He is the definition of primary scoring.

Detroit fans rag on him because he stood up for himself in contract negotiations but at this point in time he is absolutely worth more than Mantha. Detroit fans need to remember that this team isn't a contender anymore and no one owes them any hometown discounts. Holland tried to low-ball him because he's a fool but AA has earned every penny of his contract.

If Athanasiou played in front of defensemen who could headman the puck he would be a 20 goal scorer on just the break-in. His speed alone gives him 40 goal potential and if he had linemates he could actually pass to he would be a 80 point player at peak.

I dont see Yzerman trading him unless it's for a top-5 pick or signed first-pair defenseman. In short, I don't see Yzerman trading him. I would give Mantha 5.5x4, Bertuzzi 4.5x4, and AA 6.5x4 (provided they repeat last season's numbers). That puts about 22.5 million long-term on their top four offensive forwards.

Guarantee you are wrong about that one. Not only would I bet Mantha has more trade value to gms around the league, but he will be getting more money come next summer.

Took Blashill years to figure out what other coaches always knew, using him as pure net front presence is a waste.

 

[Marky9er]

6 million for 5 years would be reasonable if they had 30/30 seasons. I think the closest comparable would be Jake Guentzel, who plays on the Wing, is about the same age, and signed under a similar cap. Their agents will obviously push for more, but it is going to be on Mantha and AA to demonstrate they are worth that kind of dollar this season.

Go ahead guys, prove your worth more than a 40 goal scorer!

I think Mantha has shown glimpses of being a 40-40 ppg dominant player, but I think I have to temper that expectation before I finalize my hockey pool. As much as I want to be drafting a Byfield at the end of the year, I really want Mantha-Larkin-Bertuzzi to enter the discussion of best lines.

 

[Henkka]

Took Blashill years to figure out what other coaches always knew, using him as pure net front presence is a waste.

What other people see as waste, I see it as a development process for a multi-dimensional player.

 

[NickH8]

I think the player that will be on the move will be AA. He already has a 30 goal season and he can be just as effective on a contender's 3rd line vs a bottom-tier 1st or 2nd line. He is like the anti-Nyquist in that sense, who is a pretty decent secondary scoring option but needs to be carried by his center to maximize his effectiveness. AA just needs players to clean up after him and he can put on a show.

Athanasiou's speed and ability to make plays at high speed make every line he is on a scoring threat. He is a lot more than secondary scoring. He is the definition of primary scoring.

The idea that he's a 3rd line player because he can score without good line-mates is backwards logic. It's the reason why he's not with Larkin right now, so we can spread out our scoring, but it doesn't mean he won't improve on a better line and with better defense. If anything it means he has even more room to grow. And don't give me the "his game isn't complete" line. If you're a 30 goal scorer as long as you're not literally standing around on defense and at least trying you don't need a complete game.