The 29-year-old said he dropped significant weight and already feels more "explosive" for the Capitals.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Anthony Mantha had seen the headlines and heard the critics following a disappointing season with the Washington Capitals. Still, despite the rumors, he renewed his lease in D.C. with confidence — then got to work.
The 29-year-old kept his eye on the draft but otherwise shut out all of the outside noise surrounding him in the offseason. He instead shifted the focus to himself and how he could become the player that the team worked hard to acquire in 2021.
"They came to get me two and a half years ago already, and I feel like I haven't been the player they wanted so far," Mantha said. "So that's my goal this year: is to prove that the player is here and he's ready to play."
After managing just 11 goals and 16 assists in 67 games last season and navigating a number of scratches, Mantha sat back and tried to piece together what wasn't working. Then, as he geared up for training, he realized that his weight may be playing a factor with regard to his speed and performance.
It wasn't an overnight transformation, though. The 6-foot-5 forward had to take several steps to get the results he was aiming for, which led to a change in his usual offseason regimen as he established a new diet and put in more work on and off the ice.
"Grinding, you know?" he said of his training. "For me, I'm not much of a runner. I went for a couple extra runs over the summer, a lot of ice, a lot of workouts so that with nutritionists and vitamins and all of that, so it's a full kit."
Now, he's down to 236 pounds, and after training camp, he expects to weigh in around 234. It's at that weight that he feels he can perform at his highest level.
"I wanted to get as close to 30s as possible. For my body type, it's not that easy. You know, some people just lose weight easily, but that was my goal, and I'm not too far from there right now," Mantha said.
On the ice, he noticed a difference almost immediately, admitting that he felt faster when taking the ice.
"I feel like I'm explosive," Mantha said. "I mean, just getting out of the sharp turn and then finding the opening, I think that's the biggest difference that I can notice right now.
"I think just everything speed-wise [is different]. You know, it could be the battle, first step, it could be end of a shift too, kind of have more legs and not be too tired," he also noted.
Then, there was a focus on his mental game. Mantha worked with the same mental coach he started working with last season, meeting with him three times a week over Zoom. That alone has him feeling much more confident.
"Right now, it's really good," Mantha said of his mental health, adding, "[I'm] mentally ready and physically ready."
Going into the new year, the 29-year-old knows there's a lot at stake. Not only is he in a contract year, but Washington expects him to bring some scoring and talent with the team looking to return to the playoffs after missing out last year for the first time in nearly a decade.
At the end of the day, though, he's embracing that pressure and said that the player that the Capitals know he can be is "100 percent" there.
"Obviously everyone in that room's eager to get back going with the season we had last year," Mantha said. "So everyone does have something to prove; we talked about it for me personally, I have something to prove, too. So if everything adds up, I think we're due for a great season."