Anthony Mantha's defensive play has been solid

Anthony Mantha has four points this season. Anthony Mantha has a cap hit of $5.7m and a salary of $6.5m this season. Players who earn this type of money are expected to produce more than Mantha has. So, it’s not entirely surprising that it appears Mantha will be a healthy scratch when the Caps start their west coast road trip in San Jose on Monday.

It is a bit surprising though, considering just a week ago Spencer Carbery praised Mantha’s play and his responsiveness to coaching. Perhaps this is just a case of a team needing more production from a player, even if they are doing a lot of things right.

I think benching a guy with four points is reasonable and I’m not here to fire off hot takes about lineup decisions for one game in late November. But I do think the Caps are a better team with Mantha in the lineup.

What can I possibly see in a guy who has done nothing but underproduce since he came to town? His attention to detail and defensive play are an asset on a team that often lacks both of these things.

Let’s take a look at a play from a recent game against Columbus that shows the type of attention to detail and defensive play that I’m talking about.

On this play, the Caps turn the puck over in the offensive zone. Mantha is F3 (the third forward into the zone) when the turnover happens, so he’s got the best shot at taking away an odd-man rush for the Jackets. Spoiler alert: he does a great job of eliminating a potential odd-man rush.

The play starts with Connor McMichael holding the puck (circled in red below) along the boards, and he tries to force a pass to TJ Oshie. But there’s a Blue Jackets player defending this well. Mantha (red arrow), as noted, is F3 here. He’s in good offensive position if McMichael can thread a pass, but also in good position if the puck is turned over, which it is.

The next frame will show Mantha (red arrow) making a split-second decision that makes the entire play: he sees the puck is being turned over (red circle), that the Jackets are going to have a rush chance coming the other way, and he immediately turns back to defend. I can’t emphasize enough how smart of a play this is. A split second of indecision or hesitation, and Mantha would have taken himself out of the play. He’s also tracking a Jackets player as he’s turning—aka his head is on a swivel. Take a look below.

This allows Mantha to get back into a defensive position before the Jackets have even exited the zone. What could have been a 4-on-2 turns into, at worst, a potential 4-on-3. See below.

Through neutral, Mantha almost loses his man. The Jackets identified this and try to get the puck to the player he’s defending.

This is no problem for Mantha though. As you see below, he gets himself back into position and, through effort and muscle, doesn’t allow the Jackets player to coral the puck. The puck then floats harmlessly to the corner.

Potential Grade A chance denied, in large part thanks to Mantha.

Here’s the entire play:

To recap, Mantha:

1. Has good positioning as F3 in the offensive zone

2. Shows incredible awareness to shift to a defensive posture before the puck is even turned over.

3. Defends the play well and recovers when it looks like the Jackets player may have a step on him.

While Mantha’s time in DC will ultimately be judged by his goal scoring, or lack thereof, plays like this should not go unnoticed.