Player Talk: Anthony Mantha

19 for president

Registered User
Apr 28, 2002
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AA and Mantha will probably always guys you want more from, but that doesn't make them bad players. Both have the physical tools to be superstars but don't quite have the mental game to get them there. Even if they don't ever take that step they are useful top 6 players. With that said I'll take a center or dman over a winger any day so I think neither is off limits.
 

masta8

Registered User
Apr 26, 2018
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Irony must be a foreign concept.

And he and AA have scored goals at the same clip over the course of their careers. And Mantha has 3 less points in 30 less games. So if Mantha is a bust AA is a bust too.

Calling AA a bust after the year he is having is laughable. He has easily been one of our top players this year and likely has to do with the fact he is playing more and on power play. Mantha is also having a rough year but certainly isn't a bust yet either. I'm not worried about either of them especially AA who is only going to get better each year in my opinion when we have better D and players to play with. I expect 25-30 a year from both of them in the future.
 

Shaman464

No u
May 1, 2009
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Calling AA a bust after the year he is having is laughable. He has easily been one of our top players this year and likely has to do with the fact he is playing more and on power play. Mantha is also having a rough year but certainly isn't a bust yet either. I'm not worried about either of them especially AA who is only going to get better each year in my opinion when we have better D and players to play with. I expect 25-30 a year from both of them in the future.

AA isn't going to likely get much better unless he's playing with an elite center/elite defense. And I don't actually think he's a bust. It was just to say that if one calls Mantha a bust one should call AA a bust too because they are having very similar careers.
 

RedWingzz

Everybody loves Raymond
Apr 14, 2009
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I still think there is more production in Mantha than he is showing. He really needs to take a step though or else I'd entertain trading him. I'll write this season off, and hope for more next year. If he is still only around 0.5 of a point per game next year, I'd shop him. We need more from him. He should be producing way more.
 

TatarTangle

Registered User
Sep 28, 2011
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Great post Redwingzz, too bad AA is the topic of discussion. Take Mantha talk elsewhere, thanks. AA is a lot like Mrazek, not really all that good and talked about way too often.
 
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Lazlo Hollyfeld

The jersey ad still sucks
Mar 4, 2004
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What other reason do you think a first round talent would drop to the 4th round?
In the links you posted many of them describe him as a boom or bust pick. AA was coming off two underwhelming seasons in the OHL, which reeks of "bust." If you're looking for the biggest reason it's probably that.

For AA it's always come down to that he has blazing speed and some really flashy moves, but those moves are pretty limited. It's enough to succeed in the minors but the million dollar question was will he be able to develop facets to the rest of his game to succeed, or remain a pretty one-dimensional player?

Maybe that's a function of bad attitude but who knows. There's also cases where a guy has developed certain skills that have allowed him to dominate all through his career until he hits the big leagues, but the lack of hockey IQ and weaknesses in the rest of his game get exposed at the elite level.

I wouldn't call that bad attitude as much as tools no toolbox. I can't pretend to know what AA's attitude is.
 

Shaman464

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May 1, 2009
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In the links you posted many of them describe him as a boom or bust pick. AA was coming off two underwhelming seasons in the OHL, which reeks of "bust." If you're looking for the biggest reason it's probably that.

For AA it's always come down to that he has blazing speed and some really flashy moves, but those moves are pretty limited. It's enough to succeed in the minors but the million dollar question was will he be able to develop facets to the rest of his game to succeed, or remain a pretty one-dimensional player?

Maybe that's a function of bad attitude but who knows. There's also cases where a guy has developed certain skills that have allowed him to dominate all through his career until he hits the big leagues, but the lack of hockey IQ and weaknesses in the rest of his game get exposed at the elite level.

I wouldn't call that bad attitude as much as tools no toolbox. I can't pretend to know what AA's attitude is.

The basic story is that AA goes to London and is highly regarded then for some unknown reason starts to get buried in the depth chart. His production slips and he drops in the draft because teams start to wonder what’s going on, and if he really is going to be an NHL player or if he’ll bust. In his D+1 he gets traded to the Colts and it starts to come out that he demanded the trade and it was because of disagreements over his usage. To the point there was talk that he was going to refuse to report in his D+1 to London to leverage a trade. So the end all be all was that in his draft year he wasn’t doing what he was asked to do in London, they had a deep team so they buried him to the bottom 6 where he averaged around 10 minutes a game. His production doesn’t improve, and he drops in his draft year from a sure fire first round pick, maybe even a top 10, to a fourth round gamble.
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
40,956
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I have actually really liked Mantha's game since he came off the injury. He is skating better, he has made a lot of defensive plays. He just doesn't have a lot of offensive confidence. It surprises me, would love to see him get red hot. Not ready to give up on him but like I say in almost every one of these threads my only non-starters are Larkin and our 2019 pick.

I would call Carolina on both AA and Mantha right now if they really are moving a D-man. Neither guy has made themselves indispensable that is the the reality. I like both guys, they still have big ceilings but it is getting more and more likely that they aren't reaching what we dreamed for. But I also don't want to move them to just move them, they have value but they remain tough to move. Still for the right return any of these guys should be available.
 

masta8

Registered User
Apr 26, 2018
355
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Great post Redwingzz, too bad AA is the topic of discussion. Take Mantha talk elsewhere, thanks. AA is a lot like Mrazek, not really all that good and talked about way too often.
How is he not that good? What are your expectations for players? He is been our 2nd or 3rd best player this year. I would love to hear who you think is good on this team..
 

DatsyukToZetterberg

Alligator!
Apr 3, 2011
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I don't think Mantha is someone the Wings should move unless we're getting a good defenceman in return and even then I think there could be arguments to keep him. He may never be the 40 goal power winger that some may have expected him to be but he can still be an important part of this team moving forward. He is currently one of the few players on this team that can generate any sort of offensive at 5v5, though he is having very favorable matchups, and when he is engaged is one of our better players.

My concern with Mantha is that his individual shooting metrics are not moving in the right direction. This is the 3rd straight year in which his individual high danger shots per game are down while his medium and low danger shots are up, the large increase in the low danger shot is what worries me the most. I'm not sure what changed between this year and last year but it's not the change in shot types that a scoring forward would want to see. If he can get back to a mixture of shots similar to last year while keeping his overall advantage in 5v5 I think you'll see his offensive production improve. I am curious as to whether or not this is a coaching decision, a shoot from all angles approach, or if it is a choice Mantha is mentally making on his own. Side note, it would appear that some of his production issues can be tied to his below average power play point production, personally I think he's getting a bit unlucky and he should have a few more PP points on the year.

As for the AA vs Mantha debate I really don't think this year changes anything, AA is still a speedster who can score goals but comes with some big defensive issues. If we were able to sell high and get some sort of highish return I think I'd move him.
 

Tyler Durden

Registered User
Sep 18, 2009
2,600
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Anthony Mantha or Andreas Athanasiou ?Who is the better fantasy hockey player to have for just G, A, PTS, SOG, +/-, PPP, HITS, PIM, standard one year, h2h fantasy league?
 

KJoe88

Forever Lost.
May 18, 2012
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Still extremely high on him.

Guy has monster potential and I think lots shouldn’t discount him yet. I think with more time he’ll improve his work ethic. And with that he’ll soar.

Guy oozes talent. And he’s still young

Mantha is also playing really great since his injury. Pleased to see. Him and AA have impressed me lately. Both playing really well.
 

Lil Bert

Registered User
Oct 14, 2018
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Great post Redwingzz, too bad AA is the topic of discussion. Take Mantha talk elsewhere, thanks. AA is a lot like Mrazek, not really all that good and talked about way too often.
The thread name is literally Anthony Mantha FOH with that "take Mantha talk elsewhere, thanks"
 
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obey86

Registered User
Jun 9, 2009
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Mantha has been everything I’d hoped he’d be the past week or so. Maybe he’s got it figured out. Keep Bert-Lark-Mantha together please!

The lines have already been changed lol. The lines in practice yesterday had Nyqvist on the first line and Mantha moved down IIRC.
 

RedWingzz

Everybody loves Raymond
Apr 14, 2009
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Great post Redwingzz, too bad AA is the topic of discussion. Take Mantha talk elsewhere, thanks. AA is a lot like Mrazek, not really all that good and talked about way too often.

Great post TatarTangle, too bad the title of the thread is "Player talk: Anthony Mantha". Reading is tough sometimes :thumbu:
 
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TatarTangle

Registered User
Sep 28, 2011
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Great post TatarTangle, too bad the title of the thread is "Player talk: Anthony Mantha". Reading is tough sometimes :thumbu:
Thanks for insulting my intelligence, rest assured I am more educated than you. I was also being sarcastic, being every post before that was talking about AA I figured people could put two and two together and conclude that I was joking. I guess I give people the benefit of the doubt too often.
 

RedWingzz

Everybody loves Raymond
Apr 14, 2009
9,095
4,685
Canada
Thanks for insulting my intelligence, rest assured I am more educated than you. I was also being sarcastic, being every post before that was talking about AA I figured people could put two and two together and conclude that I was joking. I guess I give people the benefit of the doubt too often.

Hahaha, man some people are too easily offended. Relax.

I couldn't care any less about your level of education, nor do you know anything about mine. This is a hockey forum. My post was a general post about Mantha, seeing how, you know, this is an entire thread devoted to Mantha. My post had zero to do with yours.
 

Inspiration

Registered User
Jul 10, 2013
494
390
Over the last three seasons combined, at 5 on 5 the Red Wings get 55.5% of the goals when Mantha is on the ice and 42.7% of the goals when he is off the ice (and 53.2% of the shot attempts with vs 47.0% without, so it's not like he's just been lucky with the shooting percentages). He may not put up points at the rate we hoped, but can we really complain when his is consistently outplaying his opposition?
 
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Hatter of the Beach

I’m the real hero
Jun 26, 2017
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Thanks for insulting my intelligence, rest assured I am more educated than you.


And yet, you still have to resort to appealing to authority. Yikes.

Also, as a side note, the validity of most degrees in judging one’s intelligence is pretty much gone these days. The overabundance of tier 2+ universities where anyone who has a 90+ IQ can get into Graduate Programs has made the “I’m Educated therefore smarter” line pretty cringeworthy. Even a lot of Ph.Ds these days are essentially pay to attend and, in most instances, not an economically smart decision.

And I say this as someone who has a Masters in Computer Science and just got 330 on my GRE (as a non native English Speaker) for when I get my MBA. Just wanted to call you out for sounding like a tool
 

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