The Pittsburgh Penguins might lose a huge piece of their forward group this summer.
As first reported by Josh Yohe of The Athletic in his offseason writings, Penguins forward Anthony Mantha “was clear with his plans” after meeting with General Manager Kyle Dubas; it appears unlikely that Mantha will return to Pittsburgh. The 31-year-old is projected to eye free agency and capitalize on a career year.
Mantha was one of the most cost-effective players in the entire NHL based on scoring this past season. On a one-year, $2.5MM contract, he finished the 2025-26 season with a career-high 33 goals for 64 points in 81 games played. Crossing the 80-game threshold this season earned him an extra $2MM in performance bonuses per PuckPedia.
That production was fourth on Pittsburgh outside of Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, and Bryan Rust. Most notably, it only cost the Penguins $39K per point that Mantha registered this season, the eighth most cost-effective UFA forward on the market this summer. In six playoff games against the Philadelphia Flyers, he added an assist in the first round.
He was also recognized as the Penguins’ Masterton Trophy nominee, which is given to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey”. This nomination stems from his bounceback career-year that blossomed after suffering a right ACL injury that limited Mantha to just 13 games with the Calgary Flames in 2024-25.
Mantha has been a bit of a journeyman recently, with Pittsburgh being his fourth stop in the last four seasons of his 11-year NHL career. As a former first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, he spent six years wearing the winged wheel, three on an entry-level deal before signing a two-year, $6.60MM extension that took him through 2020.
The first year of a newly signed four-year, $22.8MM ($5.7MM AAV) deal, the Red Wings traded the 6-foot-5 forward to the Washington Capitals in April of 2021. He spent three seasons with the Capitals before being dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in the final year of that deal in March of 2024.
The offseason for Dubas feels opportunistic, but in the Penguins’ end-of-season press conference, the message was clear that the front office is looking to internal and external options to grow their current roster, whether it be through young up-and-coming talent or via a trade. Pittsburgh has around $42MM in cap space to make further decisions on several expiring player deals after extending with Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte in their forward group.
If Mantha were to test free agency, it would certainly make Dubas’s ability to keep him in black and gold difficult, not just because of the production, but considering the other members of the team that require addressing. It may not be as easy to allocate a decent portion of that cap space that Mantha would command. But for a player who was a key
Along with Mantha, the Penguins still have unrestricted free agents in forwards Evgeni Malkin, Kevin Hayes, and Noel Acciari, along with back-end expiring deals for Connor Clifton, Ryan Shea, and goaltender Stuart Skinner. As for restricted free agents, Dubas has forward Egor Chinakov and Arturs Silovs in net to figure out.
He was so awful in the playoffs (Game 6 in particular, all night I kept noticing over and over how bad, lazy, out of position, etc. he was…including right before the winning goal, he was slow to his check twice) that I wouldn’t take him back for the vet minimum.
We already have his replacement lined up in Soderblom to play with Kindel and Brazeau.
Good luck to him. The team that signs him will likely need it. I’d guess he’s the next James Neal to the Flames.
still can’t believe the Caps gave up Vrana and 1st rounder (Wyatt Johnston) for him.