Detroit Red Wings: What's Going on with Anthony Mantha?

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Anthony Mantha was a healthy scratch in case you didn’t know.

The Red Wings finally won a game. They got secondary scoring. Givani Smith had a Gordie Howe hat trick. After eight miserable games where everything seemed to go the other way, Detroit was registering a victory.

But hanging over all of it, regardless of the good vibes, was this burning question as to why he was out. Injury? Covid? Is he going to be traded? Or was it to send a message.

Per Jeff Blashill (it’s 4:25 mark if it doesn’t autoset as such)

“I made the decision to go with the group I went with.”

The Athletic’s Max Bultman follows up to confirm it was a healthy scratch to which Blashill answers in the affirmative. The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James pushed on why he sat but the tightlipped bench boss wasn’t having it. Blashill declined specifics, fairly stating that it was a private conversation between him and Mantha. No different than a boss and subordinate having a closed door meeting.

It’s just this particular decision centers around a player who just signed a four-year, $22.8 million deal with an AAV of $5.7 million. He happens to have 7 points (4-3) in 12 games and until yesterday, was one of four Red Wings responsible for over 75% of the team’s goals. (He was 18% in his own right). To be held out of the lineup–during an eight game losing streak–where goals have been scarce and the team’s leading scorer (Tyler Bertuzzi) was already out is borderline insane.

And yet it somehow worked.

This opens up speculation that falls into about three questions–possibly more–that go like this:

1. Is Mantha falling out of favor with management?
2. Could Mantha be on the trade block?
3. Is it exactly what it is: a wake up call?

Let’s start with the first one:

Is Mantha having a falling out of favor with management?

Mantha has certainly had his fair share of criticism levied at him over the years. Who can forget Jimmy Devellano saying that Mantha was “very disappointing” when it came down to his performance in Detroit. Devellano went as far as saying they had “very high hopes,” hinting that he may never get to the levels they projected. Yikes.

Blashill has always been tough on his younger players and has certainly made some questionable decisions not only this season (Givani Smith!) but also in season’s past when it came to ice time for veterans and prospects.

Already once this season Mantha has sat during crucial times–being pulled from shifts in the third period of a game to being held out of the first two power play shifts against Florida but Dylan Larkin was also punished. So it didn’t seem targeted.

But this? First it’s a game where Mantha noticeably played poorly. Next it was being held off the power play—-when the team can’t score on power plays. Now? It’s an entire game in the midst of a losing streak.

Though it worked out with the 4-1 victory, it makes you wonder if maybe something else could be considered.

Could Mantha be on the trade block?

This one seems unlikely. And yet, I thought the same with Andreas Athanasiou as I cheered his 30th goal live. The core seemed to be coming into view: Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, and Tyler Bertuzzi. Yzerman named those four in his opening press conference as the guys who would be built around

Less than a year later, Athanasiou is dealt to Edmonton for two 2nd round picks which is now looking like a heist.

Yzerman plays everything close. In his career as a general manager, he’s traded icons and even bought out franchise favorites. He even flipped his own high draft picks when he dealt Jonathan Drouin to Montreal. In short: if Yzerman finds value in moving someone, outside of Dylan Larkin, he’ll make the deal that makes the most sense for the Detroit Red Wings.

True, Mantha just inked a new deal. But no one–except for Yzerman (and maybe Pat Verbeek or Kris Draper), knows what Yzerman will do.

It might just be a coach sending a message

Whether it’s been on the job, in school as a student, or even just a life lesson, we’ve all gotten that “wake up call” that has made us reconsider something. Be it a lack of effort, a poor attitude, or something else that was restraining us from meeting our true potential, those messages from a mentor, boss, or teacher have gone one of two ways: message received or it’s time to move onto something else.

We’re not privy to what happens off the ice. As outsiders, we can only see what happens on the ice and the scant details provided in press conferences, interviews or social media. Perhaps this is all as it appears or maybe, there’s more to this than meets the eye.

Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see what happens from here.

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