Don Sweeney and Cam Neely love to hand out money to big bodies, and one right wing option that could hit free agency this offseason will certainly intrigue them. Who knows whether anything will actually come to fruition with Anthony Mantha and the Boston Bruins, but you can almost guarantee that the front office will at least kick the tires.
Mantha had a great season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, recording 33 goals and 31 assists for 64 points, his highest total since the 2018-19 season when he had 48. It came at the perfect time for the Quebec-born forward, as he enters a contract year with one more chance to cash in on a career that didn't exactly pan out for the former first-round draft pick.
Expectations were high for Mantha coming out of junior, but he hasn't really met them. He has 367 points in 588 career games, which isn't a bad career by any stretch of the imagination, but there have been a ton of seasons where he didn't have the impact that some expected him to have. He finally met those expectations this past season, but it's hard to project that he can maintain it over the length of whatever contract he receives this offseason.
Injuries have been a big part of his story as his body seemed to break down in his late 20s. The Penguins were just hoping Mantha could give them a full season, which he did with 81 games, which was also the first time he came even close to playing all 82 games since the 2017-18 season.
All those things sound good for Mantha, but expecting a 31-year-old in a contract year to maintain that and not regress again once he gets paid this summer is a bit of a lofty ask. The hope is that Mantha's 30s will go much better than his 20s, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
The Bruins have a hole on their second-line right wing if Viktor Arvidsson doesn't return. Boston wants more skill in their top-six, and 31 goals certainly fits that bill. However, with all the red flags surrounding the rest of his career and the one assist he put forth in six games in the playoffs for the Penguins, Bruins fans should be pleading with Sweeney not to make the same David Backes mistake he made in the past.
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