Henkka
Registered User
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?
I've been wondering this too. Everybody is accusing Mantha about his sloppy-looking skating and somewhat non-defence, but he prevents shots and goals from happening better than any of our forwards. That's a pure fact. With 3-year data.
I think it must be his reach and stick defence, which is kind of "stealth", but just effective. Athanasiou can skate and hustle more, but when he is on the ice, we are scored against a lot more, than Mantha on the ice.