He has 21 goals and 45 points in 56 games with Grand Rapids this season.
Mantha, 21, was named the 2013-14 Canadian Hockey League player of the year after scoring 57 goals and 120 points in 57 games as an alternate captain for the Val-d'Or Foreurs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Mantha's progress was slowed when he sustained a fractured right tibia at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament in September 2014. At the time of his injury, which caused him to miss all of Detroit's training camp in 2014, Mantha was leading Red Wings prospects in goals, points and shots on goal. Mantha missed two months before finally making his professional debut in Grand Rapids on Nov. 14, 2014. He had 15 goals and 33 points in 62 games that season.
Holland said at the time he thought it would be a struggle for Mantha (6-foot-5, 214 pounds) to make the Red Wings and that he needed to come in and take a job. Mantha's name was also involved in trade rumors, but the left-handed shot continued to battle in an attempt to re-establish himself as a potential roster fit.
"I had ups and downs last year and I just have to leave it behind; now it's a fresh start and I need to concentrate on having a good camp and then go from there," Mantha told NHL.com in September. "I've learned a lot in the past two years when I was at the top and when I was at the bottom. I'm kind of trying to figure out my way through, so this year I want to stay right in the middle and play my game."
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill coached Mantha in Grand Rapids in 2014-15.
"First off, he needs to score goals because that's what he's done in his career better than other people," Blashill said in September. "He and I talked a lot about the development process at this level and the difference between maybe what he could do in junior and what he'd have to do in the NHL. You have to skate to get the puck and skate when you have the puck. Those are two things that might sound simple, but will help him.
"In the end, he'll have to score goals."
