jammer2 Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Absolutley perfect "prove it" contract for Anthony. Basically, if a kid shows tremendous skill and is virtually a lock for 20 goal....AND the entry deal is over.....well, in my book, that means 3 mill+ in today's NHL. The risk was to great to give a long term deal....work ethic issues, consistancy (normal if a 2nd year player) etc made it very risky for Holland to dole out a 5 or 6 year deal. By the end of this deal, the Wings will know exactly what they have. Right now it's respectable offense and high skill...but they will need more, including a 200 ft game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 A few words about Mantha's defense.... I am not nominating him for the Selke, lol, but I feel his defensive rep is Blashill related as much as anything. The past two years combined he is a total of plus nine on a woeful team, second on the team narrowly behind Zetterberg during that time. Throw in the fact that he is the teams best power play forward and you get a plus player who is a solid power play guy, for whatever reason he isn't a favorite of the coach, that happens sometimes with young kids, but I think he is a coaching change away from a 30-35 goal season. A two year bridge deal is ideal, he will still be a RFA the next time his contract is up and by then some of the really bad deals will be off the books. Also with Mantha and AA signed it leaves enough money to sign Larkin right now to a long term deal. Anyone knows that I am not a Holland fan but he is still a master at the bridge deals. Good deal for both Mantha and the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 I wonder why he is alway getting critized in the press then? Maybe it is just Blaishill? I know one thing, Mantha has the skating and raw skill to pot 40 goals in this league, as long as he's on the top line and top pp....and I can't see him getting demoted. Like many young players, he just needs to put it all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeDDS Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 @jammer2 @yave1964 I agree, the rep is more critical than he deserves. I WOULD like to see him master the net front more, even though Ras may end up being that guy too. Dirty goals and redirects are almost always a critical offensive weapon of real Cup competitors. Him mastering that would make him all that much more valuable. Yep, Blash has it in for the kid, although he does have offensive dry spells, and it could attributable some to effort. But the numbers don’t lie—Blash could/should be getting on a whole lot more at other players than Mantha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haliax Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 If anyone is interested in a bit more of the story on the dynamic between Mantha and Blashill, I found this article enlightening: https://971theticket.radio.com/articles/heart-heart-between-blashill-and-mantha-repaired-their-relationship It is a good read, if you haven't read it before. Anyways, happy with the contract. I do think Mantha needs to work on his consistency, but it is obvious he has the talent to do well in the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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