Player Talk: Anthony Mantha

[TheMule93]

I noticed that his production started to slip when he stopped moving his feet and started to float a lot.

Yeah, basically. His first game with Nyquist instead of Tatar was great - he had two assists against pittsburg.

There is no confirmation bias. During his hot streak we were always talking about how well he was skating, how fast he was, how dangerous he looked, how strong he was on the forcheck etc.

Now its like he has one decent play per game, if that. Makes his merry way to the boards, loses a battle, skates back to his own zone.

 

[Wood Stick]

Eh, I expected him to slip a tad. He hasn't been bad though. Zetterberg breaks down in January every year, hence his wingers doing the same. Frans Nielsen needs to be the guy we go with for the big minutes up front. For the second half I like Z on the wing.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Meh, he's still playing well. He's not in a tear like he was but that kind of play is sustainable by essentially five or so players in the world. Expecting that year round is way too much. I think Mantha is still doing his job well enough. He doesn't look to be trying as hard because he's not always uselessly chasing the puck and then immediately giving it away so he can keep chasing like this team's "hardworkers" (Glendening, Helm, Abby etc), but that's a good thing. Z got tired and fell off and we don't have any other acceptable centers so it's no surprise our wingers are having a hard time consistently putting up points.

 

[jkutswings]

Let's use an analogy:

Some students have to work really hard every year to earn decent grades. It's a constant struggle, and they do the best they can, but it never comes easy.

Others just "test well", or have things come much more naturally to them, and it seems much more effortless.

And yet, for kids in Scenario B, there often comes a time - often when they first go to college - when they find themselves in a very different tier of academic challenge, and it surprises them, sometimes to the point of getting overwhelmed. There is a period of time, sometimes a long period of time, when they have to adjust their thinking and approach to learning, and adapt to the new level of difficulty.



I'm not saying I know Mantha well enough to have any insight on his particular case, but the kid might just be used to breezing through various levels of competition, and need more time to readjust his approach. It doesn't mean he's lazy; he might just not be used to having to focus to the degree that NHL competition demands.

If that's the case, then once he gets his mind around the situation, he'll either put in the work to meet the challenge, or he won't. If it's the latter, THEN it's a problem, but I don't think there's anything to worry about quite yet.

 

[Martinez]

I've been impressed with his puck battles along the boards, he usually comes up with the puck and makes a smart pass.

 

[GrGriffins]

Now its like he has one decent play per game, if that. Makes his merry way to the boards, loses a battle, skates back to his own zone.[/QUOTE]


That pretty much sums up what Mantha did for us in GR. He can play great for a few games and then after that, he glides and coasts on the ice and at times does not go in the corners to battle for pucks. He found the hard way that what you did in juniors in one thing, but when you become a pro, it is a totally new world and these kids nowadays are finding that out. Sure he had a broken tibia to set back his first season as a pro, but he has gained strides since. He has to break that habit of coasting in games as the Griffins coaching staff got on him for that at times during his time there. If he will word hard consistently in the NHL and not get into these bad habits, he will become a great player. But he was to put his mind into it to do that. Time will tell.

 

[steafo]

Let's use an analogy:

Some students have to work really hard every year to earn decent grades. It's a constant struggle, and they do the best they can, but it never comes easy.

Others just "test well", or have things come much more naturally to them, and it seems much more effortless.

And yet, for kids in Scenario B, there often comes a time - often when they first go to college - when they find themselves in a very different tier of academic challenge, and it surprises them, sometimes to the point of getting overwhelmed. There is a period of time, sometimes a long period of time, when they have to adjust their thinking and approach to learning, and adapt to the new level of difficulty.



I'm not saying I know Mantha well enough to have any insight on his particular case, but the kid might just be used to breezing through various levels of competition, and need more time to readjust his approach. It doesn't mean he's lazy; he might just not be used to having to focus to the degree that NHL competition demands.

If that's the case, then once he gets his mind around the situation, he'll either put in the work to meet the challenge, or he won't. If it's the latter, THEN it's a problem, but I don't think there's anything to worry about quite yet.

You just described my entire college career. I had noooooo study habits going into college.

I still think he is one of the most dangerous players on the ice every night. I don't need him mucking and grinding like a 4th liner to prove he's NHL ready. He wins a decent share of his board battles and he uses his size really well to protect the puck. If he just keeps shooting he's going to get goals, his shot is too good. It's a top tier NHL shot couple that with his size he WILL figure it out, it's not a matter of if it is a matter of when. I see him as a 30-30 player for many years.

 

[cjm502]

I look at him like I look at Mule, he is a great goal scorer but when he isnt scoring goals hes going to be very frustrating to watch. I wish Scotty Bowman was around, he did not tolerate lazy play and he drilled that in to every players head.

 

[Heaton]

I look at him like I look at Mule, he is a great goal scorer but when he isnt scoring goals hes going to be very frustrating to watch. I wish Scotty Bowman was around, he did not tolerate lazy play and he drilled that in to every players head.

I'm always surprised people forget how great Franzen was defensively pre-2011.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

I'm always surprised people forget how great Franzen was defensively pre-2011.

Idk why some think he was garbage in his dzone

 

[jkutswings]

Idk why some think he was garbage in his dzone

I never had problems with Franzen defensively. It was more along the lines of 'Fedorov Syndrome'.

The guy was a beast when he was on. But he seemed very streaky - probably more streaky than he actually was - and, when he wasn't on, seemed to have long stretches of 'off'.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

I never had problems with Franzen defensively. It was more along the lines of 'Fedorov Syndrome'.

The guy was a beast when he was on. But he seemed very streaky - probably more streaky than he actually was - and, when he wasn't on, seemed to have long stretches of 'off'.

Sure you can say he was streaky. But he wasn't frustrating to watch when he wasn't scoring. He was about half of datsyuks skill in the dzone. Which is good cause datsyuk is a hall of fame selke center

 

[Bench]

I'm always surprised people forget how great Franzen was defensively pre-2011.

The whole team was. A treat to watch. Nightmare to play against. Sure you had like Hudler, but basically top to bottom they could smother you defensively and strike back with high end playmaking.

I just made myself sad.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

The whole team was. A treat to watch. Nightmare to play against. Sure you had like Hudler, but basically top to bottom they could smother you defensively and strike back with high end playmaking.

I just made myself sad.

Hudler wasn't super terrible at defending. He just gave it away a lot. But yeah he wasn't good

 

[vladdy16]

Mantha has been worn out. You can't scold a player out of lactic acid build up.

Heading into his scoring tear starting Dec 17, head had played 13,13 and 15 minutes in the previous 3 games.

Between Dec 17 and Jan 12 his toi was...

17,15,17,18,20,21,19,18,17,18,20.

That's a lot of times for a big young guy to be tipping 20 minutes.

 

[Frk It]

Mantha has been worn out. You can't scold a player out of lactic acid build up.

Heading into his scoring tear starting Dec 17, head had played 13,13 and 15 minutes in the previous 3 games.

Between Dec 17 and Jan 12 his toi was...

17,15,17,18,20,21,19,18,17,18,20.

That's a lot of times for a big young guy to be tipping 20 minutes.

Good point. Didn't realize he was playing that much.

Even though the goals aren't there... his line with Z seems like it is the only one consistently controlling possession when it's out there.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Simplest explanation is usually the right one: the line got worse when Nyquist was inserted over Tatar. Nyquist loses posession more often and is playing softer than Tatar. I don't know what the possession numbers say but I'd wager they're much worse with Gus than with Tatar.

 

[Frk It]

Simplest explanation is usually the right one: the line got worse when Nyquist was inserted over Tatar. Nyquist loses posession more often and is playing softer than Tatar. I don't know what the possession numbers say but I'd wager they're much worse with Gus than with Tatar.

Tatar-Z-Mantha
CF -- 57.75%
SF -- 112
SA -- 78
xGF60 -- 2.84
xGA60 -- 1.71

Nyquist-Z-Mantha
CF -- 52.52%
SF -- 53
SA -- 44
xGF60 -- 2.32
xGA60 -- 2.28

Nyquist-Z-Mantha has still been better than our other lines, but not as good as the Tatar-Z-Mantha line.

 

[golffuul]

I'm not sure how coaches/management don't have access to these stats. And if they do, are they simply missing out on the fact that the team played better, overall, with the Tatar-Z-Mantha combination, versus Nyquist up there.

You just get the feeling that the players are frustrated with the Roll-the-Dice/Yahtzee method of line combinations that Blashill comes up with.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Tatar-Z-Mantha
CF -- 57.75%
SF -- 112
SA -- 78
xGF60 -- 2.84
xGA60 -- 1.71

Nyquist-Z-Mantha
CF -- 52.52%
SF -- 53
SA -- 44
xGF60 -- 2.32
xGA60 -- 2.28

Nyquist-Z-Mantha has still been better than our other lines, but not as good as the Tatar-Z-Mantha line.

Thanks for looking this up. A pretty significant downgrade, although TZM likely would have slowed down a bit from their hot run anyway. What irks me is Blash isn't even going back to TZM during games, it should be a no-brainer to re-unite them if we're looking for a goal since it's been one of about 3 line combinations that have shown chemistry this season.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Simplest explanation is usually the right one: the line got worse when Nyquist was inserted over Tatar. Nyquist loses posession more often and is playing softer than Tatar. I don't know what the possession numbers say but I'd wager they're much worse with Gus than with Tatar.

The correct explanation is that he stopped moving his feet. I don't know why Gus specifically would cause Mantha to stop moving his feet. When Mantha moves his feet he is very dangerous and very productive. When he stops moving his feet (especially in the offensive zone) he is very pedestrian and worthy of the tough love he has been given.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

The correct explanation is that he stopped moving his feet. I don't know why Gus specifically would cause Mantha to stop moving his feet. When Mantha moves his feet he is very dangerous and very productive. When he stops moving his feet (especially in the offensive zone) he is very pedestrian and worthy of the tough love he has been given.

So true. It's funny because most of the forwards struggling in terms of production are really lacking in this respect. Looking at Larkin and Nyquist.

 

[14ari13]

The new pick pocket man

I am amazed by How he steals pucks.

He does it differently than Datsyuk, but nonetheless impressive.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

His reach is a huge asset that most guys don't have.

 

[sully6one]

Why haven't we seen Vanek- Helm- Nyquist line that was so hot earlier in the year.

Tatar- Zetterberg- Mantha
Larkin- Nielsen- Athanasiou
Nyquist- Helm- Vanek