Mantha happy to be part of Detroit’s future

With that in mind, despite Mantha missing extended time in back-to-back seasons with injuries, Red Wings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman signed the restricted free agent to a four-year contract on Tuesday.

The four-year deal is the first contract of more than two years that Yzerman has awarded since becoming Red Wings GM on April 19, 2019.

Mantha said he appreciates the confidence that Yzerman has instilled in him with the long-term deal.

“A lot (of responsibility),” Mantha said about the contract. “(Yzerman) signing me to a four-year deal also tells me he sees me as part of the future of the team. (One) of the guys that’s going to help the team win. That’s the pressure that comes with it.”

The 6-foot-5, 234-pound winger started the 2019-20 season on fire, earning seven points in the first two games of the campaign, including a career-high four-goal outburst in the Red Wings’ home opener, to lead the club to an early 2-0 record.

Through the first 25 games of the season, Mantha led the team with 12 goals and 23 points, but on November 23, he suffered a knee injury against the New Jersey Devils and was sidelined for eight games.

Four games after returning from the knee injury, Mantha was sidelined again when he was slammed to the ice during an altercation with Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin. What initially seemed like a rib contusion turned out to be a punctured lung, forcing Mantha to miss the next 20 games.

But Yzerman said Mantha’s injury history didn’t cause hesitation in offering a long-term deal, pointing out that most of the time he’s missed has been the result of in-game fights.

“I want him to stay healthy. I think three of his (career) injuries may have come in fights,” the Red Wings GM said. “I think there’s some luck involved, and our hope is Anthony remains healthy.

“He’s an important player, an impact player, and we need him on the ice. No. 1 for Anthony is really to train and make sure he’s in the best shape he can possibly be and give himself a chance to stay healthy.”

In just 43 games played, Mantha finished the 2019-20 season with 38 points, which was good for third-most on the club, only trailing Dylan Larkin’s 53 points and Tyler Bertuzzi’s 48, who each played all 71 games.

Mantha’s .88 points per game in 2019-20 led the Wings, marking the highest points-per-game total for Mantha in his four-plus NHL seasons.

The winger said he believes he can reach the magic number of 30 goals this season if the campaign is played as planned and if he stays healthy.

“Obviously (2020-21) is up in the air, but everyone talks about that magic 30,” he said. “I think it’s something that’s reachable for me in the real near future. That’s the goal I’m set on right now.”

At 26 years old and on his second contract since being drafted by the Red Wings with the 20th overall pick in 2013, Mantha was two years away from entering unrestricted free agency before Tuesday’s deal.

Yzerman didn’t want to let that happen, though, saying he’s happy with Mantha’s progression and that Mantha is one of the core pieces to the Red Wings’ puzzle.

“Obviously, he’s one of our best players, a key player on our team,” Yzerman said. “We’re trying to build around this group, and each contract that we do, we’re trying to make it work within what we’re trying to do.”

Mantha debuted for the Red Wings as a 21-year-old in March 2016 and said it’s a surreal feeling that he’s becoming one of the older players on the team and a veteran presence in the locker room.

“It’s going to be awesome. It’s crazy to think that at 26, you’re in the second half of the oldest guys on the team,” he said. “Obviously, we have all these young guys that will roll up maybe this year, maybe next year. So, it’s going to be exciting to see, and I’ll help them out for sure.”

Now that he’s got his deal done, Mantha can focus solely on the upcoming season.

He returned to Detroit from his hometown of Longueuil, Quebec in September and has been working out with his teammates, preparing for whenever this uncertain 2020-21 season may begin.

“The guys are anxious to get back out there,” Mantha said. “We didn’t have a competition or anything of that sort in the last eight, nine months already. So the guys want to get back out there. Hopefully we could have an estimated time for us to actually have a date.”

And as he looks toward next season, Mantha said he’s excited about the new pieces the Red Wings have added this offseason.

Video: Anthony Mantha Press Conference

“It’s going to be awesome,” he said. “We know Bobby (Ryan) can shoot the puck. He’s been around for a long time and we know what he’s capable of. And just in summer practice, (Vladislav) Namestnikov, he keeps the puck and he likes to control it. So, hopefully they can have a big impact for us in the near future.”

Mantha said he’s happy to be part of the Wings’ resurgence, and said he knows the club has the pieces in place to return to prominence while he’s in a Red Wings sweater.

“We’re going to be contenders at some point,” he said. “A rebuild needs a couple years to get there, and then the team’s going to be good. Then the opportunity is going to come. If it’s year two, three or four, I’ll be around, and hopefully I can help this team.”