Anthony Mantha’s free-agent signing was huge summer news, with his recent 33-goal campaign suggesting he could be the missing piece of the Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt line. Although it was soon revealed he wouldn’t be that piece, Mantha would be part of a lineup change that has the team 9-2-0 in its last 11 games.
Scoring five goals and four assists for nine points in that span, Mantha has been everything the Devils need him to be since landing on the third line.
The early going was rough for everyone, including Mantha
Anthony Mantha became a concern over the first five games of the season. His performance alongside Hughes and Bratt was, in the points department, invisible; his six shots on goal, seven penalty minutes, and goose egg on the scoreboard did not reward fans’ early optimism.
“There aren’t many players who can keep up with them,” Mantha told NJ.com about Hughes and Bratt, and he turned out to be among the majority. The scoring vet found himself struggling to click with his high-intensity linemates, who weren’t yet operating at full capacity themselves.
Mantha for Gritsyuk: The swap was one for one
After a slow start, Arseny Gritsyuk and Mantha’s lineup swap got things going for both players. Mantha scored and added an assist in his third-line debut in Detroit, while Gritsyuk started a five-game scoring streak in the next game against the rival Rangers.
Gritsyuk has since exploded for seven goals and 10 points in his 11 games played on the Hughes line, and Mantha is close behind him with five goals and nine points on Rodrigues’s wing. Before the swap, the pair combined for two points (both Gritsyuk’s) in five games.
Mantha’s projected numbers are shaping up
Mantha is coming off a two-goal, one-assist performance against St. Louis that pumped him up to five goals and nine points on the season — a 26-goal, 47-point pace over 84 games. If you ignore his scoreless first five games and only count the 11 since he relocated, however, that becomes a 38-goal, 68-point pace.
Now that he’s found a home on the third line, Mantha is making a case for his season totals to fall closer to the upper limit. All nine of Mantha’s points are at even strength so far; if his scoring touch carries over to the power play, we may see him improve upon the success that put him on Sunny Mehta’s radar in the first place.
Either way, it’s a promising look for “depth scoring.”
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