In this edition of the hotstove, we share our choices for best player on the Detroit Red Wings.
Todd Cordell
Dylan Larkin is surely the popular choice but I’m going to go off the board a bit and make the case for Anthony Mantha.
Mantha leads all Red Wings forwards in Corsi For%, Expected Goals For%, and Scoring Chance For% over the last two seasons. He’s the team’s top play driver.
He is also the best offensive player on the roster. Mantha has averaged more goals, points, and Grade A chances per 60 minutes than Larkin at 5v5.
Across all game states, Mantha’s been a more efficient goal scorer than the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Mark Stone, Andrei Svechnikov, Johnny Gaudreau, Brock Boeser and Tyler Seguin. And I think he’s still scratching the surface of his offensive ceiling.
With good health, and a better supporting cast, he could turn into one of the league’s premier snipers.
James Tanner I suspect that Dylan Larkin is probably a better player than Anthony Mantha, as he's 23 and Mantha is 25, but both are excellent.
Mantha was their best player this season , so let's talk about how incredible his season was. The Red Wings had a minus 122 goal differential in a 31 team league where the next worst team was minus 52.
Despite this, when the Wings put Mantha on the ice, they were a winning team. They got four more goals than they allowed during his 43 games, and he had a 55% expected goals rating. Relative to his team, that is incredible.
Given the context of his team and the fact that you have to assume virtually all game plans of the opposing team are built around stopping him, Mantha's numbers this season are probably more impressive than whoever ends up winning the Hart Trophy.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com Recent posts