Anthony Mantha Breaking Free Of Dependence On Henrik Zetterberg

After starting the 2016-17 season in Grand Rapids, Anthony Mantha broke into the NHL in a big way. He was called up in mid-November to fill an injury gap when Andreas Athanasiou hurt his knee. It only took him two games to find the score sheet, assisting on a Henrik Zetterberg powerplay goal, and four games to find the back of the net with a third period tying goal against the Calgary Flames.

Mantha went on to score 17 goals and 36 points in 60 games last season. It was a promising performance, one that fans were right to be excited about, but one that always had an asterisk attached to it. Of Mantha’s 792.65 minutes of 5v5 ice time, 521.78 (66%) of those minutes were played with Henrik Zetterberg. The two players played great together, posting a 65.31% Goals-For percentage and 55.12% Corsi-For percentage. Along with Gustav Nyquist, they made up the Red Wings best line of the season. However, when he played away from Zetterberg, Mantha’s 5v5 stats were significantly worse, posting lower on-ice goals-for, shots-for, corsi-for, and scoring chances-for percentages.

The concerns of Mantha’s ability to perform at a high level without Zetterberg were real. It’s great to have a consistent 30-goal scorer in your lineup, but he needs to be able to carry himself out there and not rely on any single player to prop him up, especially a veteran like Zetterberg who will need to lessen the burden on his shoulders in coming seasons.

Coming into this season, all of Detroit’s young players have been under the microscope as we seriously start to consider whether or not they can take on some of that burden and, so far, Mantha has proven that he doesn’t need to play with Zetterberg to be a top player on this team or in this league.

Through the first 16 games of the season, Mantha has played a total of 115.55 minutes (46% of his total 5v5 ice time) without Henrik Zetterberg and almost every single one of the stats listed above have been much better than when he’s been playing with Z.

While his time with Zetterberg is a smaller sample size to draw conclusions from, it’s clear that Mantha has greatly improved his play this season. His SF% and CF% are each ten points over what they are with Zetterberg, leading to a better GF% and SC% over 2016-17. If you run the numbers again without the 5v5 filter, Mantha’s GF% without Zetterberg is actually higher this year, meaning the time on the powerplay has also been rewarding for him.

A big part of Mantha’s success this year has been due to finding himself on a line with his fellow youngsters Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou. Jeff Blashill’s willingness to leave the lines alone for a short stretch allowed us to see what those three could do without the veteran support that all three relied on at the start of their careers. As a unit, the Kid Line has registered a 60.94 CF% and 66.67% GF% in only 29:49 of ice time. Throw in an xGF% of 68.09% and they’ve been the Red Wings best line this season, playing with speed, determination, and a nose for the net.

Building chemistry with these future teammates is crucial to Mantha’s development as an independent player who doesn’t need to rely on veterans. And he’s succeeding. When we look at Mantha’s stats without Zetterberg from last season and this season side-by-side, it’s clear that the young winger is breaking free of his dependence on Henrik Zetterberg. At the time of this writing, he is leading the team in goals with 7 (after 16 games) and is on pace to score 36 this season.

It certainly seems as though he’s taken the next step in his development and is ready to be a reliable NHL player who can be counted on. It’s a long season and an important one for Mantha, as he’s due for a contract extension at the end of it. Producing away from Zetterberg is the first of many steps in his long road to becoming an elite scorer in the NHL.

All stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com.