Anthony Mantha ( 2013 1st round, 20th overall) is a special player. The Detroit Red Wings have never had a player like him.He’s a huge (6’5… and 220lbs) , mobile winger who loves to score. Mantha LOVES to score and he’s great at it. Last season, he scored 57 goals at Val D’Or in The Q. Were it not for an unfortunate injury that he suffered at the annual Traverse City Tournament in September, then Mantha would have made Wings’ the opening night roster. Mantha was ear-marked to be a top six forward in training camp, however, he suffered a fractured right tibia in mid-September.Had it not been for the busted tibia, he’d have been skating with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg
That’s how highly Ken Holland Mike Babcock think of the talented 20 year old.
Mantha has already sat out for four weeks. He’ll likely miss another 2-3 weeks. Once he’s able to apply weight to his injured leg, he will begin skating again. He’ll likely end up in AHL Grand Rapids due to the untimely injury. Playing with other prospects and veteran NHLers in the AHL won’t be a bad thing for Mantha. He is great skater for a man his size and he possesses tremendous speed. He is a dangerous scorer with an NHL caliber shot. He has lightning fast hands with a quick catch, quick release. Mantha has very good size and reach and knows how to hold on to the puck.
Mantha’s injury could not have come at a worse time. That’s the unpredictable nature of pro hockey. Its hard to predict when and where injuries and adversities will appear from out of the ether. Its how players deal with the adversity that defines them as pros. My bet is that Mantha will do everything in his power to continue to do his physical therapy and get himself back on the ice again.
Wings fans will have to wait a while to get their first glimpse of Mantha in the NHL. Holland’s strong suit right now are the young, talented Grand Rapids Griffins forwards that he has infused seamlessly into his NHL roster. Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyqvist have already paid dividends in Detroit. This season Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Riley Shaehan, Andrej Nestrasil, Joakim Andresson, and Luke Glendening are making immediate positive contributions to the Red Wings early season success.
The Detroit Red Wings, among other NHL teams, expressed interest in Tyler Myers (6’8… and 230 lbs.) at the 2014 NHL Trade Deadline. At that time, Sabres GM Tim Murray was reluctant to trade away Myers, who had taken an immediate up-tick in his defensive and offensive contributions after he took an immediate liking to Ted Nolan’s coaching philosophy. From day one in the job in Buffalo, Nolan focused on and succeeded at helping Myers to throw off the mental chains that had bound and gagged his once dynamic game. The former NHL Rookie of The Year struggled at the end of the Lindy Ruff administration and his funk continued long into the Ron Rolston era. Nolan pressed the reset button and gave Myers the green light to play his 200 foot game. Myers responded favorably. He has made a lot of progress under Nolan. I' was never a fan of James Patricks's obsession of pairing Myers with Christian Ehrhoff. The two players never clicked well together, but that never stopped Patrick from playing them together. When Ruff and Patrick were fired from the Sabres, Teppo Numminen ran the Buffalo D. He moved Myers away from Ehrhoff and played him with other D partners last season. Myers responded favorably by playing with a more defensive-minded partner like Hank Tallinder and Mike Weber.
At just 24 years of age, Myers is a grizzled NHL veteran blue line. He’s playing in his 6th NHL season with the Buffalo Sabres ( 1st round, 12th overall 2008). He thrives 5 on 5. He logs #1 D pairing minutes. He can ably man a point on the PP, and can kill penalties effectively.
There’s a reason for why the Red Wings are very interested in getting their mitts on Myers. Their organizational cup runneth over with big, fast, skilled forwards that Holland and his scouts have drafted in the past few years. The strong suit in the Detroit organization right now is forward depth. The Wings are lacking in veteran NHL defensemen. Their current D group of Nik Kronwall, Jonathon Ericsson, Jakub Kindl, Danny DeKeyser, Brendan Smith, Kyle Quincey is respectable, however, it isn’t elite. Xavier Ouellet is going to be an NHL star, however, is polishing his game in Grand Rapids right now. Myers may be the exact agent of change that would add immediate value to the Wings’ D corps and this elevate it to a higher level of formidability.
On Tuesday night in Raleigh, Myers skated 29:25 TOI. On Monday night he skated 25:23 TOI. On Saturday night in Chicago, Myers skated 26:29 TOI and in the season opener he skated 24:21 TOI. He’s an even playe on a team that has allowed 17 goals against in 4 games played. The Sabres have scored 8 goals in 4 games and have an NHL worst goal differential of -9.
If Ken Holland is serious about making a trade for Myers, he’s going to have to move an asset like Mantha back to Buffalo in order to close the deal. Otherwise, Tim Murray can say thanks, but no thanks. Myers has been playing with extreme confidence and appears to have gotten the funk out of his game. He and Josh Gorges are an impressive D pair. Myers is a righty and is getting many opportunities to gallop the distance of the 200 foot rink. He’s been getting chances that he will eventually deposit into enemy nets. For no, he’s playing the way that Nolan wants him to play. Tim Murray doesn’t have to trade Myers. Its not like the Sabres are going to be making a run at the Stanley Cup this season. If Holland wants to take possession of Myers and the four seasons that remain on his 7 year, $38.5 million contract, he’ll have to pay a premium price. Murray isn’t going to trade his top D-man to a division rival in exchange for a bag of Twizzlers, a Gatorade and a 3rd rounder.No. If Holland wants Myers, he’s going to have to agree to part with Mantha.
Tim Murray and Ted Nolan are re-building the Sabres by following Dean Lombardi's model for the LA Kings by assembling big, strong, smart, skilled forwards and D. Anthony Mantha fits that bills to a tee. To get him, the Sabres will have to part with a big asset like Myers. If Holland is adverse to trading Mantha for Myers the Edmonton may swoop in with an offer featuring Ryan Nugent Hopkins or Jordan Eberle in exchange for the Alberta native Myers. Have you seen the Oilers' blue line lately?
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The Anaheim Ducks have placed top line right winger Patrick Maroon injured reserve. Maroon was injured in Monday's 5-1 win at Buffalo. The full extent of his left leg injury is not known yet. Maroon was examined by Ducks team doctors late Wednedsay afternoon. Bruce Boudreau called Josh Gorges' hit on Maroon "low " and added "you don’t like to see in the game."
Gorges drilled Maroon with a low, crunching body check that knocked first line winger out of the game with an ugly lower-body. Maroon could not apply weight to his injured leg as he was helped off the ice by his teammates. Not a great sign for the Ducks.
Gorges wasn’t penalized for his hit. Matt Beleskey took over Maroon’s place on the Ducks’ top line with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
The Sabres visit the Ducks on Wednesday 10/22. You better believe that the Ducks will be looking to exact revenge on Gorges for the Maroon hit. Ted Nolan better dress a heavy, nasty lineup in the revenge game.
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