When the Penguins signed Anthony Mantha to a one-year deal in the offseason, he was coming off a season where he was limited to just 13 games after undergoing knee surgery.
Pittsburgh was happy to give the scoring forward an opportunity, with President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas saying, “he can come in here, coming off the injury, with an incentive-laden deal and prove it. And given his age, be a part of helping the team move ahead and get back to where we want to go.”
The 31-year-old has been everything the Penguins had hoped he would be. Mantha has played a big part in the team’s recent run. Pittsburgh is second in the Metro Division with 70 points, at least five points ahead of the teams on the outside, during a season when outside expectations and projections didn’t give them much of a chance.
“He's a big body that's got the hands that he has, and the ability to make plays, and the shot,” Head Coach Dan Muse said of the 6-5 forward. “There's a lot there. I think his game has continued to grow over the course of this year.”
Mantha reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth time in his career on Feb. 3 against the Islanders, in the second-to-last game before the Olympic break. Mantha is the first free-agent signing to score 20 in his first season with Pittsburgh since Petr Sykora recorded 28 in the 2007-08 campaign.
Heading into the Olympic break, Mantha recorded six goals and 12 points in his last nine games. That included four multi-point efforts.
“It’s confidence, the trust level from the team, teammates, coaches, my work I put in mentally, physically,” Mantha said. “Good things are happening.”
For Mantha, the mental aspect is extremely important.
He has been working with a mental coach for several years now. It started when he underwent shoulder surgery during the 2021-22 season, which Mantha spent with Washington. He had the procedure that November and returned to action in March.
Mantha was healthy the following season, but dealt with confidence issues after being scratched. So, he enlisted the help of his mental coach, based out of Toronto, to work through those.
“I'll probably work with him until the end of my career, to be honest with you,” Mantha said.
They typically have three sessions per month throughout the calendar year. But during the season, they go in looking to refocus key points for the week ahead – “what to focus on in practice, what to focus on games, controlling my mind.”
And during the rehabilitation process for Mantha’s knee injury, they emphasized one key message.
“To be the best version of myself. So, that's kind of the focus I was aiming at,” Mantha said.
It played a factor in Mantha starting the year strong, finding chemistry with Evgeni Malkin and Justin Brazeau on the Big Boy Line, as all three players measure at least 6-5.
“He’s a great player,” Malkin said at the time. “He’s fast and has long stick. He’s physical, he can score, he can do everything. I’m glad we signed him.”
Since then, Mantha has moved around Pittsburgh’s top-three lines. bringing the same type of game wherever he has slotted in. And lately, that game has been taken to another level, as Mantha gets more and more reps coming off that long-term injury.
“For a guy his size, he's been moving lately, you know?” Muse said. “He's just able to be a real threat, whether it's off the rush or in zone. He’s shown he can play either wing. He's a guy who's shown that he can kind of move in and play with some different guys and adapt pretty quickly. And so, that's a credit to him.”
