CALGARY -- Anthony Mantha will have surgery on his ACL and miss the rest of the season, the Calgary Flames announced Monday.
The 30-year-old forward had seven points (four goals, three assists) and was plus-6 in 13 games in his first season with the Flames after signing a one-year, $3.5 million contract July 1 as an unrestricted free agent.
“It is never easy to lose a guy all year,” Calgary forward Jonathan Huberdeau said after a 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday. “He's coming in here and wants to prove himself and getting a bad injury like that, it's never easy. We feel for him. Hopefully it's going to be a speedy recovery and surgery is going to go well. It's unfortunate. We'll think about him."
Mantha, who sustained the injury in the first period of a 3-2 overtime win at the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 5, will have surgery Thursday.
"It's awful,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “Even when you saw the hit in Montreal you were like, ‘OK, maybe he might miss a little bit of time,' and when we got the news it was fairly significant. You do feel gutted for the player because it's not an easy thing to come back from. With ‘Mo,’ I think he's going to do things the right way. He'll get it done and he'll get working on his rehab right away and put himself in a position to be able to come back."
A first-round pick (No. 20) by the Detroit Red Wings at the 2013 NHL Draft, Mantha has 303 points (146 goals, 157 assists) in 507 regular-season games with the Red Wings, Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights and Flames, and six assists in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
