Andreas Athanasiou

[RedWingsfan55]

The MLive one. It basically holds AA's success against Mantha. Like every player should have an identical development curve or something.

AA is having more success because he plays a Blashill-friendly game on a Griffins team with virtually zero scoring depth, which means he gets a ton of opportunities. Mantha is having less success because 1) he played with scrubs for the first 20 games (which is somehow spun into being a pro-AA point, since because Mantha has only been successful with AA, it must be solely because of AA) and 2) because he doesn't play the game Blashill wants him to, which means he sees drastically reduced icetime.

It ignores the fact that AA benefits from playing with Mantha and also that Mantha has a massively higher ceiling than AA. It might as well be a Fox News-style highly biased opinion piece.

So because it's a FACT he is scoring points with aa it immediately means you must bring politics into it?


Also have you seen mantha play this year?

I can say for a fact the few times I've seen him he sure does A LOT of floating and his scoring chances we're a direct result of AA making key plays.


Mantha does have the higher ceiling but he isn't ready for the nhl yet while aa is. That's the difference between the two right now as well as the fact they're two different players. Also mantha hasn't even played 1 season yet at the pro level and was set behind with a broken leg.

But his succes and chances are very much tied to how great aa has been.

 

[Satrebil]

The MLive one. It basically holds AA's success against Mantha. Like every player should have an identical development curve or something.

AA is having more success because he plays a Blashill-friendly game on a Griffins team with virtually zero scoring depth, which means he gets a ton of opportunities. Mantha is having less success because 1) he played with scrubs for the first 20 games (which is somehow spun into being a pro-AA point, since because Mantha has only been successful with AA, it must be solely because of AA) and 2) because he doesn't play the game Blashill wants him to, which means he sees drastically reduced icetime.

It ignores the fact that AA benefits from playing with Mantha and also that Mantha has a massively higher ceiling than AA. It might as well be a Fox News-style highly biased opinion piece.

Or MSNBC?

Seriously though, isn't the answer likely somewhere in between what you're saying?

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

So because it's a FACT he is scoring points with aa it immediately means you must bring politics into it?


Also have you seen mantha play this year?

I can say for a fact the few times I've seen him he sure does A LOT of floating and his scoring chances we're a direct result of AA making key plays.


Mantha does have the higher ceiling but he isn't ready for the nhl yet while aa is. That's the difference between the two right now as well as the fact they're two different players. Also mantha hasn't even played 1 season yet at the pro level and was set behind with a broken leg.

But his succes and chances are very much tied to how great aa has been.

AA is not NHL ready.

 

[Satrebil]

AA is not NHL ready.

Nor is Mantha.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Nor is Mantha.

When did I say that he was?

 

[Satrebil]

When did I say that he was?

You did not. Guru did.

 

[Hendricks433]

AA is not NHL ready.

He's most likely not NHL ready by I think he's definitely earned a call up with injuries to get a couple games.

 

[Mijatovic]

Im excited to see AA. Could make the transition next year or the year after. Will be hard given that he has to displace some more forwards though.

Red Wings really are in a good position going forward. Its sifting through what will be better than the rest which makes it hard.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

AA's value also has an interesting spin on it in terms of I fully believe the AHL three on three experiment will make its way to the NHL. He is absolutely lethal in that situation, to the level of how people viewed shootout specialists in the current system, it does add some value.

 

[Chex LeMeneux]

Dude has always reminded me a lot of Etem. He could be a force on the second or third line in a couple years. If he and Larkin both make it, we're gonna have a really speedy lineup one day soon.

 

[Hendricks433]

Dude has always reminded me a lot of Etem. He could be a force on the second or third line in a couple years. If he and Larkin both make it, we're gonna have a really speedy lineup one day soon.

With size too.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

You did not. Guru did.

I did? I must have missed that part...

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

So because it's a FACT he is scoring points with aa it immediately means you must bring politics into it?


Also have you seen mantha play this year?

I can say for a fact the few times I've seen him he sure does A LOT of floating and his scoring chances we're a direct result of AA making key plays.


Mantha does have the higher ceiling but he isn't ready for the nhl yet while aa is. That's the difference between the two right now as well as the fact they're two different players. Also mantha hasn't even played 1 season yet at the pro level and was set behind with a broken leg.

But his succes and chances are very much tied to how great aa has been.

I didn't actually bring politics into it. I just said it was a deceptive piece. and, yes, I've seen Mantha play a whole bunch of times this year. When they play together, AA is responsible for some scoring chances. However, Mantha regularly makes some beautiful plays for that line. In particular, he's trying to do a lot of playmaking lately, and he does a darn good job at it. He's also had some truly breathtaking rushes in the last several games, so I think he's improving on his stickhandling a bit. Point is, if you can't spot what Mantha is doing to contribute, you aren't watching very hard. Except if you're watching in the third period, because Mantha is probably benched at that point.

Overall, Mantha is not ready for the NHL... but neither is AA. I don't think either player will be ready this year or next. It just appears that way because AA gets a lot of choice minutes. It's similar to saying Zengerle is having a great season... but he's not. He's just taking advantage of a coach who shovels minutes his way until he wills the puck into the net. AA at least has the virtue of being more skilled and a good prospect on top of that. But he has a long row to hoe before he's an NHL level player, and that involves playing against AHL top pairings first.

Don't get me wrong; AA is an exciting prospect. But this kind of exuberance is over the top. He's not even close to the NHL yet.

 

[Frk It]

I'd say Athanasiou is far more underrated, than overrated.

Also don't know why we're making this a Mantha vs AA duel...

 

[ricky0034]

I'd say Athanasiou is far more underrated, than overrated.

Also don't know why we're making this a Mantha vs AA duel...

read the title of the mlive article in the op

 

[Probie]

Dude has always reminded me a lot of Etem. He could be a force on the second or third line in a couple years. If he and Larkin both make it, we're gonna have a really speedy lineup one day soon.

Imagine helm-Larkin-AA !!!

Stupid fast....

 

[ap3x]

That would be so sick.

 

[Chex LeMeneux]

Imagine helm-Larkin-AA !!!

Stupid fast....

Lethal. They would run circles around most lines in the league. I'd be equally excited to see Larkin on line 1; Helm and/or AA on line 2 or 3. What's more, that still leaves Nyquist, Tatar and Mantha with + skating and most of the rest of our forwards with at least average skating. I could see us eventually becoming one of the fastest teams in the league.

I'd say Athanasiou is far more underrated, than overrated.

Also don't know why we're making this a Mantha vs AA duel...

I think people should disregard that misguided article. It's far more exciting to think we have another forward who is nailing his development and could be on his way to becoming a great second line guy. Plus he has great chemistry with one of our best prospects. I think people are focusing on the negatives when they should be focusing on the positives.

 

[Frk It]

I think people should disregard that misguided article. It's far more exciting to think we have another forward who is nailing his development and could be on his way to becoming a great second line guy. Plus he has great chemistry with one of our best prospects. I think people are focusing on the negatives when they should be focusing on the positives.

That's what I was getting at, totally agree. Let's talk about AA, and how he has progressed, and how he projects going forward.

 

[loudernow*]

I've been nauseated the last couple games watching Zengerle cruise the slot while others are doing the work for him to get the puck.
Meanwhile, so many posters are dogpiling on Mantha who actually goes to the boards and provides a physical presence.
I'm starting to wonder how much of this is anti French bias.

 

[Vatican Roulette]

Speed, good size, producing in rookie pro year, great hands.

Lots of things to like.

Does he play the PK at all?

 

[Probie]

Lethal. They would run circles around most lines in the league. I'd be equally excited to see Larkin on line 1; Helm and/or AA on line 2 or 3. What's more, that still leaves Nyquist, Tatar and Mantha with + skating and most of the rest of our forwards with at least average skating. I could see us eventually becoming one of the fastest teams in the league.

We will likely see it too. I cant wait. I say AA is on the team in 2017-2018 full time and Larkin the year after...roughly, I hope. Helmer will be 30, and should still have his wheels.

Throw Jenson on the back end with say a good skater like Dekyser, that would be pretty nasty in terms of speed.

 

[Henkka]

Speed, good size, producing in rookie pro year, great hands.

Lots of things to like.

Does he play the PK at all?

Athanasiou had 6 short-handed goals on his 2 last OHL seasons, so I think yes.

He also has 1 sh goal for Griffins. No pp goals.

 

[RedWingsfan55]

We will likely see it too. I cant wait. I say AA is on the team in 2017-2018 full time and Larkin the year after...roughly, I hope. Helmer will be 30, and should still have his wheels.

Throw Jenson on the back end with say a good skater like Dekyser, that would be pretty nasty in terms of speed.

Larkin could still be in college for three more years I think? Plus a year in the ahl. So 4 years minimum is my guess.

 

[Mister Ed]

Larkin could still be in college for three more years I think? Plus a year in the ahl. So 4 years minimum is my guess.

My guess is he plays college next year, plays the one after that in AHL and then plays for the Red Wings. He might even play some games in the NHL like Abdelkader did and then play for the GR in the playoffs next year.