Penguins' Anthony Mantha dilemma could be a 'trap'
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Penguins' Anthony Mantha dilemma could be a 'trap' originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Pittsburgh Penguins had plenty of reasons they failed to get past the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs.
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Anthony Mantha was certainly one of them.
That has brought the Penguins to a point of dilemma: Mantha becomes a free agent this offseason.
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He's coming off the best season of his career statistically, putting up 33 goals and 31 assists (64 points) in 81 games.
"He has always graded out well as a play-driving forward, and analytics-minded GM Dubas clearly saw something he could unlock," Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin wrote as part of a new article on Friday. "The question now is: does Mantha seek to hit the market and cash in on the best season of his life, or will he embrace the best fit he’s found yet during a turbulent career that has bounced him to five different franchises?"
That strong play didn't show up in the postseason, though. Mantha played six games and had just a lone assist while being a minus-5 and picking up 20 penalty minutes.
So which Mantha is the one to believe in? Did he prove to the Penguins he's flawed, or will his price just be a bit lower and thus a bit more valuable?
"Also: should the Pens be frightened by how badly he struggled in the first-round playoff loss to the Flyers?" Larkin writes. "Would re-signing him be a trap after everything went so perfectly this year?"
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That's certainly a bunch of questions about a guy who will be looking at a raise from his $2.5 million salary in 2025-26.
Someone is going to pay Mantha, probably pretty well, but it's not yet clear if the Penguins should try to retain him or if they might be better served moving on to someone else.