'It's not like, 'Okay, go. Good luck. Yeah, you need to do X,Y,Z.' I have to help him get there," the new Capitals head coach said of Mantha.
Since the start of the offseason, the spotlight has been on Washington Capitals forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov and Anthony Mantha. General manager Brian MacLellan expressed disappointment in their seasons and admitted he was aggressive in trying to pursue a trade this summer. Though the trade buzz is gone — at least for now — questions still surround Kuznetsov and Mantha and whether or not they can bounce back as the future remains uncertain.
Enter Spencer Carbery.
The new Capitals bench boss is more than confident that he can help Kuznetsov and Mantha unlock their full potential once again, and he has a game plan to help the two elevate their game to where it needs to be.
"I would say the first thing I think I’ve always approached it, whether it’s a team or an individual, is gather information first. So that’s in two ways: Where they’ve been, what’s made them successful in the past, find out from teammates, other coaches, management, scouts, whatever it is, find out what’s made them successful in the past or what have they looked like when they’ve been at their best," Carbery explained to Mike Vogel on the Capitals' Break The Ice podcast.
"Now watch the film and see the good of when they were on their game, at the top of their game, what did they look like, what do they do, what are the areas that they most positively affect the game?" Carbery added. "Now look at the last 20 games, whatever it is from the previous season that they played in: What doesn’t look the same? What’s different about this player than what I saw when he was clicking on all cylinders?"
In 81 games last season following an All-Star campaign in 2021-22, Kuznetsov's shooting percentage plummeted to a career-worse seven percent, and he also put up his lowest point-per-game pace in nearly a decade after netting just 12 goals and 43 assists for 55 points.
Mantha's struggles have been present since he was acquired at the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline for Jakub Vrana. He suffered a major shoulder injury that held him out for the majority of 2021-22, but since returning, he hasn't been able to find consistency or be the top-6 player the team was expecting. Mantha posted just 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points last season while also experiencing a number of healthy scratches and struggles with his confidence.
"I don't think I was present and involved enough for my team. Whether it's points, checking or all the little details," Mantha told RDS this summer, adding that he wants to be a 60-plus point player as he faces free agency next summer. "I want to be ready this year."
READ MORE ON THE HOCKEY NEWS: Mantha Hit Reset, Has Changed Offseason Regimen & Dropped Weight To Rebound With Capitals
Both Kuznetsov and Mantha agreed that last season was disappointing, and both assured the media they would find a solution. For Kuznetsov, it was training and spending time back in Russia, and for Mantha, it was hitting reset with his wedding and dropping nearly 10 pounds while changing his diet and working with a mental coach.
"[I'll] try to identify those details inside of their game that potentially I can help them with," Carbery explained. "'What about this? Here, let’s take a look at this and put the work in to find little tweaks of little areas of your positioning. Here, you’re getting your puck off a little bit slower,' or whatever it is, and then it’s my job to help them see those things and then give them confidence and get them back to where they were."
The freshman head coach has experience getting players to reach their highest level following three years working with Washington prospects down with the AHL's Hershey Bears and then two years transforming the Toronto Maple Leafs' power play into one of the best in the NHL.
While Carbery knows he can take steps to help, he knows that nothing's guaranteed. However, the 41-year-old is adamant that he needs to do what he can to get them back on track, especially with regard to Mantha.
"Does [it] always work out? No. There's no magic pixie dust, but at the end of the day, it's my job to get the most out of Anthony Mantha and help him get there. It's not like, 'Okay, go. Good luck. Yeah, you need to do X,Y,Z.' I have to help him get there and have to help identify the situations where he’s doing a great job and where he’s not. And it won’t be different for any other player of trying to help them reach their full potential."
At the end of the day, Carbery has been impressed with the progress the duo has made over the offseason, and he thinks that both have a lot to prove and are determined to show that they can still be impact players at the highest level.
"I have a great belief that they’re going to come in, be highly motivated. They want to do well, they want to be the best, they want to win games and help the Washington Capitals win a ton of games this year," Carbery said. "So with that, that’s a great situation. so two highly motivated guys that I think are gonna come in and do a great job for our group. And I’m gonna do everything I can to help them.”