The New Jersey Devils have added a genuine offensive weapon to their forward lineup, signing veteran winger Anthony Mantha to a two year contract worth $9.5 million, carrying an average annual value of $4.75 million against the salary cap through the 2027-28 season. The deal breaks down to $5.4 million in the first year and $4.1 million in the second, giving New Jersey a genuinely favorable structure given the caliber of production Mantha just delivered in Pittsburgh. General manager Sunny Mehta made the announcement, continuing what has already become one of the more active and aggressive offseasons in recent Devils memory.
Mantha arrives in New Jersey fresh off a genuine breakout campaign with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he set career highs across every major offensive category, tallying 33 goals, 31 assists, and 64 points across 81 regular season games. That production marked his first ever 30 goal season in the NHL, a genuinely significant milestone for a player who had spent much of his career flirting with that kind of scoring output without quite reaching it. His 33 goals led the entire Penguins roster last season, while his 64 points ranked third among all Pittsburgh forwards, giving him a genuinely central role in Pittsburgh’s offense during his lone season there. Seven of those goals came on the power play, marking his best power play output in a single season since his 2018-19 campaign with Detroit, and reflecting a level of special teams production the Devils will likely look to plug directly into their own lineup.
At six foot five and 240 pounds, Mantha brings a genuinely rare combination of size and offensive skill to New Jersey’s forward group. Now 31 years old, the Quebec native was originally selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, 20th overall, of the 2013 NHL Draft, and he spent parts of seven seasons within Detroit’s organization across both the NHL and AHL levels between 2014 and 2021. During his time with the Red Wings, Mantha put together back to back 20 goal seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19, totaling 194 points on 95 goals and 99 assists across 302 regular season games in Detroit before being traded to Washington in April of 2021.
Mantha spent parts of the next three seasons with the Capitals before a March 2024 trade sent him to Vegas, and he later signed with Calgary as an unrestricted free agent that same July. Across his full NHL career, spanning five different organizations, Mantha has now accumulated 367 points on 179 goals and 188 assists across 588 regular season games since making his NHL debut with Detroit back on March 15, 2016. He also brings genuine playoff experience to New Jersey’s locker room, having appeared in 20 career Stanley Cup Playoff games across stops with Washington, Vegas, and Pittsburgh, though he has managed just seven assists and no goals across that postseason sample.
Mantha’s signing continues a genuinely aggressive pattern of roster building from Mehta this offseason, arriving as one of the final notable names still available on the free agent market weeks after most other teams had already completed the bulk of their offseason spending. The move follows Mehta’s earlier decision to trade goaltender Jacob Markstrom to Florida in exchange for Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist, along with the subsequent signing of journeyman goaltender David Rittich to compete with Nico Daws for the backup role behind the crease. Taken together, these moves reflect a front office clearly determined to reshape the roster meaningfully after New Jersey missed the playoffs the previous season, rather than simply running back the same group and hoping for different results.
Mantha’s own health history adds an important layer of context to the deal as well. He turns 32 in September and is now nearly two years removed from tearing the ACL in his right knee, an injury that forced him through a genuinely lengthy rehabilitation process before he returned to the ice. That his return culminated in a career best offensive season with Pittsburgh speaks well to how fully he’s recovered physically, even as any team signing a player with that injury history at his age necessarily takes on some level of risk regarding long term durability.
Statistically, some analysts have flagged reasons for measured optimism rather than unchecked enthusiasm about Mantha’s move to New Jersey. His career high prior to last season sat at just 48 points, recorded back in 2018-19 with Detroit when he was only 24, meaning last season’s 64 point output represented a genuinely dramatic jump rather than a continuation of an already established scoring pace. Mantha has also shot above 20 percent for three consecutive seasons now, a rate that some evaluators consider difficult to sustain indefinitely without some regression. At the same time, his underlying profile offers real reassurance as well, since only seven of his 33 goals and 13 of his 64 points last season came on the power play, meaning the bulk of his production came at even strength rather than depending heavily on favorable power play deployment he may not receive in New Jersey given the team’s existing personnel. In two of his last three seasons, Mantha has scored 20 or more goals at even strength alone, a genuinely strong indicator that his scoring touch extends well beyond simply riding a hot power play unit.
With his size, his proven scoring ability, and genuine playoff experience now added to New Jersey’s forward group, Mantha figures to compete for a top six role immediately, giving the Devils another legitimate scoring option as they look to return to the postseason after missing out last year. For a front office that has already reshaped its goaltending situation and continued adding pieces throughout the summer, locking up one of the market’s last remaining impact forwards gives New Jersey a genuinely productive final major addition heading into training camp.
