from Andrew Berkshire of Sportsnet,

Mantha has been knocking at the door for a long time now, what kept the Detroit Red Wings from letting him open it is anyone’s guess. We can talk about the lower levels of competition he faced or optimal deployment, but the fact is he’s been one of the Red Wings’ best players for years.

This season you can see quite clearly that he’s getting to the right places, producing far more than team or league average, and getting it done off the rush at a high rate despite the Red Wings not being a great rush team.

Mantha ranks eighth in the NHL in scoring chances per minute at 5-vs-5 this season, and his excellent numbers at 5-vs-5 might even hold out to a large extent, since half his production so far has been on the powerplay.

I have my doubts that he can be a point per game player, but can he get close? I wouldn’t be surprised, especially if he continues to play with Larkin.

This exact level of production is impossible to sustain, but there’s all sorts of breakout potential here, so let’s say it’s fact.

more which includes a graph of Mantha's shot quality, plus a few more NHL players...