New Penguins forward Anthony Mantha vows to be ready following knee surgery

Anthony Mantha doesn’t have specific goals in mind — aside from the goals that go into a hockey net — as he enters the 2024-25 season.

Limited to 13 games last season as a member of the Calgary Flames due to a right ACL injury he suffered in November, Mantha has endured surgery and a laborious rehabilitation process to get himself back into the shape that has allowed him to be a steady top-six winger in the NHL.

Being in a position to be full go at the start of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp in mid-September is his only goal at the moment.

“That was my main goal when I did get surgery,” Mantha said. “It’s going to be almost 10 months post (surgery) at the start of camp. So, I should be all set and running. I’ll be ready. That’s the ultimate goal. That’s exactly what I told (Penguins management) when we were talking to each other over the summer. That’s my plan.”

The Penguins’ plan includes Mantha after they signed him to a low-risk one-year deal worth $2.5 million on July 2.

(According to Puckpedia, Mantha can earn an additional $2 million based on the number of games he plays.)

They actually harbored designs on signing him during the 2024 offseason but he opted to join the Flames. His injury led to their paths crossing once again.

“Last summer, when I was a free agent, they were snooping around,” Mantha said via video conference on Monday. “They offered something last summer. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite go that way last summer. Obviously, playing 13 games last year, (the question was) which team would give me a chance.

“Luckily enough, (the Penguins) came through and gave me a great opportunity and a great deal from the start of free agency. It was hard to look past them this year. I’m just excited to join the Penguins. After 13 games, I didn’t know what to expect over the summer. I focused a lot on myself and trying to prove that I’ll be ready for camp. Things went good and here we are.”

Where the left-shooting Mantha fits into the lineup obviously remains to be seen. He has primarily been deployed as a right winger throughout his 10 years as an NHLer, including stops with the Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights.

And — at the moment — the Penguins have two strong options to utilize on the right wing of their top two lines in Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell (though Rakell was primarily utilized as a left winger last season).

Mantha, who has reached the 20-goal mark three times in his career, is eager to earn an opportunity in a role that would allow him to play regularly with the likes of a luminary center such as Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin as well as All-Star defensemen Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.

“Obviously, (the Penguins), we all know had probably four of the best players in the past 10, 15, 20 years,” Mantha said. “It’s going to be learning from them. Hopefully, I get to play with a couple of them on my line here or there.”

This won’t be the first time a member of Mantha’s family has skated professionally in Pittsburgh. His grandfather, Andre Pronovost, had a 10-year NHL career throughout the 1950s and 1960s and also suited up for the former Pittsburgh Hornets American Hockey League squad for two seasons.

The 89-year-old Pronovost has been a major factor in Mantha’s career.

“He would watch my (junior) games maybe two or three times,” Mantha said. “Then he would watch the next game two or three times. Then, after three or four games, he would call me and tell me exactly, ‘OK, over here, I would have done this instead of that.’ The whole shebang of how to gain time with the puck without the puck, he was really focused on that.

“Obviously, he’s not getting any younger, but he’s still watching the game two, three times a night. He goes to bed and writes his notes on his little piece of paper. He’ll call me, not as much. He’ll call me maybe once or twice a month just to look to see how I’m doing and to give me a couple of tips.”

Mantha, a first-round draft pick (No. 20 overall) of the Red Wings in 2013, is listed at 6-foot-5 and 234 pounds, making him one of the bigger players in the organization. But he’s not exactly a bruising power forward, at least in the classic sense.

“Over the last couple of years, it switched a little bit,” said Mantha, who turns 31 on Sept. 16. “Playing better defense also. If I have a good chance at shooting the puck, I’ll shoot it. I won’t think twice about it. Obviously, people tend to say I’m a little slower. I think the size plays a bad influence on (that opinion). I consider myself, not above average, but a good average in skating speed. An offensive-minded player. Except (penalty kill), I’ve been playing pretty much every situation in my career.”

His career is in a new situation now as he tries to rebound from a serious knee injury.

“It’s going to be a lot of skating from the past month to training camp,” Mantha said. “How to get the confidence back? It’s a lot of puck touches, a lot of shots. Hopefully, I get to play a couple of scrimmages here and there during the summer before I show up to camp.

“Then, obviously, camp this year is going to be different than the last couple of years where for me, it’s going to be almost like (the regular season) where I need to really get back into it. Really focus and play my best hockey from camp on.”