"He's an offensive player that needs to create and needs to score," Carbery said of the Capitals winger.
As the Washington Capitals take the ice for their second game of the season against the Calgary Flames on Monday, Anthony Mantha will be watching from the press box as a healthy scratch.
The scratch comes after he received just 13 shifts and under 12 minutes of ice time in the season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Aliaksei Protas will take his place against Calgary.
It's not the first time Mantha has been a healthy scratch, as he sat out multiple times last season.
Mantha is coming off a difficult 2022-23 campaign that saw him score just 11 goals and 16 points for 27 assists in 67 games. His inconsistency and questioned effort led to trade rumors over the offseason, and over the summer, he worked on nutrition and dropping weight while also working with a mental coach to improve his confidence.
The 29-year-old came into camp in good shape but during the preseason, struggled to convert on his opportunities. In his first game of the campaign, he couldn't get much going on the fourth line with Nic Dowd and Beck Malenstyn.
While he'll sit out for Monday's tilt, head coach Spencer Carbery is working with Mantha to get his game back on track.
"We've been working a lot with Anthony and his game and getting it up to the level that we feel like — and he feels like — he's capable of," Carbery told reporters.
For Carbery, that's improving his ability on the forecheck.
"I feel like the biggest thing is offensively. There's no secret he's an offensive player. He's not a penalty killer; he's not a defensive specialist. He's an offensive player that needs to create and needs to score," Carbery added. "That's sort of the area that we've dialled in and really focused on is trying to get his confidence level, trying to get his touches back to the level that he's been capable of in his career."