Anthony Mantha was made a healthy scratch for the first time as a member of the Washington Capitals by head coach Peter Laviolette on Sunday when the Caps took on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 28-year-old winger spoke about missing the game with the media after an optional skate on Monday.
The Quebec native told The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir that the scratch was a “wake-up call” and that he saw it coming after his minutes declined in recent games. His 9:48 of ice time against the Nashville Predators last Friday was a season-low and was the first time he was purposefully played less than 10 minutes in a game since being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily the points and goals that (Laviolette is) mad about,” Mantha said. “It’s more the rest of (my) game.
“Just my work ethic,” he continued. “Right now that’s what I need to do if I want to get back in the lineup, and I’ll have to show them.”
Through 42 games this season, Mantha has recorded 23 points (9g, 14a). Last season he came up with the same total of points in five fewer games. It’s important to note that Mantha has spent large parts of this season outside of the top-six forward group and is averaging almost a full minute less power play time than he did in 2021-22.
In recent games before his healthy scratch, Mantha was skating on the team’s fourth line. A fourth line that gets almost exclusively defensive zone assignments and plays a very straightforward grinding style.
“I thought he played well last night,” Laviolette said last Friday. “I thought he worked hard. That’s what we’re looking for from him.”
With Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson expected to be permanent fixtures within the team’s lineup moving forward, Mantha will have to leap over someone like Sonny Milano to get back into the fray. In Sunday’s game against Columbus, Milano played the least amount of minutes on the team (12:10) sans Garnet Hathaway (10:31) who got into a fight and missed a handful of shifts due to sitting in the penalty box.
It’s important to note that Mantha counts $5.7 million against the salary cap both this season and the next. The Capitals will need to eventually clear some cap room this season whenever John Carlson is ready to return from long-term injured reserve.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
