The Calgary Flames will be short a player for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. The club announced on Monday afternoon that forward Anthony Mantha will undergo surgery to repair an ACL injury and will miss the rest of the season.
Mantha suffered the injury in the first period of Tuesday’s game in Montreal on a hit behind the net from Canadiens forward Emil Heineman. Mantha left the game and didn’t return. He was placed on the injury reserve list on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Mantha signed with the Flames during the off-season as a free agent. Blessed with size – he’s listed at 6’5″ and 230 pounds – and a strong shot, the hope was that Mantha could revitalize his career with big minutes in Calgary. Maybe he’d become a fixture with the Flames, or maybe he’d be moved at the trade deadline to a contender as a “pump and dump,” but at the very least he’d have an opportunity to play a lot in key situations.
With the Flames, Mantha showcased another part of his game that’s probably contributed to him bouncing around a bit: inconsistency. When Mantha is on his game, he’s awesome. He’s big and uses his size to create space for his teammates; his points tended to come in bunches, and were usually in games where he went to the net and battled in the tough areas of the ice. But he’s also played a fairly quiet game the rest of the time, to the point where he was demoted to the fourth line for a game due to head coach Ryan Huska feeling he wasn’t moving his feet.
Through 13 games with the Flames, Mantha had four goals and three assists for seven points, and plus-6 plus/minus. Mantha’s already on the IR, so he’ll remain there until the end of the season. He’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Mantha’s injury potentially opens up a full-time winger spot on the top three forward lines for youngster Matt Coronato, who’s really impressed in recent games. But it’s never fun seeing a young player getting an opportunity due to a season-ending injury to another player.
The Flames are back in action on Monday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings.
