Red Wings: Anthony Mantha is better than Maple Leafs’ William Nylander
By Jacob Rivard
Mantha and Nylander’s team value
The biggest difference between the two is the value they provide for their teams. Besides Dylan Larkin, Mantha is the Red Wings’ best player by a vast margin. Nylander, on the other hand, sits behind Matthews, Marner, and Tavares on the depth chart.
If the Maple Leafs enter a cap crunch in the future, they are more likely to trade Nylander than they would any of the three aforementioned players. If the Red Wings needed to trade an asset, they would work wonders to ensure that Mantha remains in Detroit for years to come.
Additionally, both players are signed through the next four seasons — Nylander at $6.9M per year and Mantha at $5.7M per year, respectively. If both players were to average out 60-65 point seasons for the next four years, Mantha’s contract value would be far superior, saving his team $1.2 million compared to Nylander.
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While it seems like Nylander’s deal provides more value right now, if Mantha can keep up his pace, he will have a better contract, term, statistical averages, and value for his team.
Ultimately, time will tell the tale.
Based on history alone, it would be safe to assume that Nylander will remain a solid 55-65 point player throughout the duration of his career.
Mantha, on the other hand, is somewhat of a toss-up. While he has yet to eclipse the 30-goal plateau, every year he’s come close has been shortened due to injuries. Even offensive heat maps seem to indicate that he’s mere moments away from his first 30-goal — and possibly 40-goal season.
On the surface, Mantha might seem like the higher risk right now. But, if he can avoid injury over the next four seasons, it would be safe to assume that Mantha can and will show that he is a superior player to William Nylander.
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Overall it seems like Mantha has Nylander beat; the Detroit Red Wings made a great choice by keeping Mantha locked up for the next four seasons.