from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
He was given an opportunity on the power play, and has turned that into a team-best eight power play goals by using his 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame as a goalie screen. He’s fit nicely onto a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist, and also has looked good playing next to Dylan Larkin.
Mantha’s average ice time of 17:04 is up from last season’s 15:54 average. Fellow young players Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou have seen bigger increases in their minutes, but that’s because they play both power play and penalty kill.
Mantha has the ability to stand out with his size and skill, be it tipping pucks down low or finishing a feed from Zetterberg like he did on Sunday. As he learns it takes hard work to do so regularly, Mantha could push for 25, even 30 goals this season.
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