The Pittsburgh Penguins will have a lot of decisions to make once training camp begins in mid-September, especially on the forward front.
And one of their newest faces figures to play a pretty key role on the team this season.
Forward Anthony Mantha was signed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal this offseason. The 30-year-old winger endured a major setback last season – as a member of the Calgary Flames – when he tore his ACL in November and missed the remainder of the 2024-25 season. In just 13 games, the 6-foot-5, 234-pound forward registered four goals and seven points.
Mantha’s history suggests that he has the ability to put the puck in the net, as he has three seasons of 20 or more goals under his belt. Although his injury history is concerning, to say the least – Mantha has never played in a full 82-game season and has played in more than 67 games just once – the signing was low-risk enough that he should provide value to the Penguins regardless.
But the real question is what role the veteran forward will play in a lineup that is progressively getting younger.
When taking a peek at the roster in its current state – according to PuckPedia – it appears quite obvious that Mantha should be playing somewhere in the top-six. Aside from Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, the Penguins don’t have any other bona fide top-six wingers to skate alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and Mantha is easily the best choice out of those remaining.
However, Mantha’s situation next season will – more than likely – heavily depend on whether or not some younger, promising players push for NHL roster spots in 2025-26.
The two prospect names at the top of the list are Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty, who both showed they belonged at the NHL level late last season. Koivunen, 22, registered seven points in eight games alongside both Malkin and Crosby, and he didn’t miss a beat with either future Hall-of-Fame center.
In fact, Koivunen’s chemistry with both was palpable. He was reading plays and working the offensive zone as if he had been at the NHL level all along, and – although he has yet to score a goal at the NHL level – showed off flashes of elite playmaking ability that would be valuable alongside Crosby, Malkin, Rakell, and Rust.
McGroarty, too, showed a lot of promise before a lower-body injury ended his season a few games early. The talented winger and 14th overall pick in 2022 – acquired from the Winnipeg Jets last summer – put up a goal and three points in five games with Crosby at the end of the season, and he showed vast improvement from his brief first NHL stint to kick off the 2024-25 season.
There’s also Filip Hallander, who was the SHL’s Forward of the Year last season, as well as Tommy Novak – acquired from the Nashville Predators in the Michael Bunting trade last season – who has some potential but played just two games for the Penguins post-deadline due to injury.
As for Mantha’s role in all of this? On paper, he should be in the top-six. But if those younger guys make a serious push, he may just be booted out and forced to play some third-line minutes, similar to the situation Anthony Beauvillier found himself in last season for the Penguins before his trade to the Washington Capitals.
Mantha has the ability to play anywhere in the middle-six. Ideally, the Penguins would want him to produce enough and make enough of an impact to fetch a solid return at the trade deadline, but it may all come down to whether or not the young guns make enough of an impression.
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