This post is a disjointed mess of three different points.
1) Mantha's contract negotiations are not going to be massively influenced by one huge game. Yzerman isn't an idiot. Mantha is going to get a fair offer based on the totality of his work. He's not going to get like 9M, and if he goes scoreless for the next 3 weeks, he's not going to get 4M.
2) Trading AA for the sake of trading AA is dumb. Trading AA now while he should have some big value because he's providing a ton of surplus value compared to his salary and is still an RFA once this current deal runs out to get an "AA" for the defense? That is actually a pretty good idea. Now is when you should look at dealing him or Mantha or Little Bert if you're planning on doing so for roster balancing sake. They will have more value now on cheap deals with RFA control than signing long term extensions at market value.
3) The Wings as currently constructed with or without AA are a one-line team. AA makes it so the third line can have a couple opportunities, but if you shut down B-L-M, the Wings are dead, AA or no AA. He's a great player, but he is not a player that can carry his own line all by himself and have it be a viable scoring line. He may get ~20-25 goals on a 3rd line, but he's doing that all by himself.
1) That's what I'm sayng.
2) Trading AA to improve? Yeah. Fine. You could say the same about Larkin, Mantha or Bertuzzi. Personally, I think the timing to trade them is kind of pointless. Who cares if they're about to get paid. If you want a good team, you're going to have good players who get paid. Besides, AA and Mantha have only one season left before they hit jackpot.
3) Wrong on several fronts.
For one, maybe only McDavid and Crosby can carry a line, by themself. And they aren't usually asked to.
As AA NHLers go, I doubt there were many who scored 20+ 5 on 5 goals last year with the kind of linemates AA had. If you know of any, please share.
Why you refer to AA has a third liner is beyond me.
He scored seven fewer points than Larkin at 5 on 5 in 230 fewer minutes, without having capable linemates. He scored 21 goals at 5 on 5 to Larkin's 16, in 230 fewer minutes, without having a Nyquist, Bertuzzi or Mantha on his line frequently.
And if you lose AA - you're ***that much*** further away from having more than one line.
Right now, AA gives us a hope in hell of secondary scoring. Without - that's another 30 goals of secondary scoring down the tubes.
It's not AA's fault Glendening and Hirose and company aren't legit top sixers.