After starting strong, Andrew Mangiapane has struggled with the Edmonton Oilers this season. Frankly, he didn’t have a great run with the Washington Capitals either. Despite having only one really strong season in the NHL, he got a couple of good deals from both teams; 35 goals with the Calgary Flames offered a much longer leash.
It’s being learned now that the down seasons might have been the norm. During an interview this week, Mangiapane’s former agent suggested that the season in which the forward scored 35 goals was not necessarily a true reflection of who he was as a player.
Mangiapane and His Agent Capitalized on an Outlier of a Season
Mangiapane had a breakout 2021-22 season with 35 goals (career high) and 55 points, leading to a three-year, $17.4M deal at $5.8M AAV signed just before arbitration in August 2022. That was a significant raise from his previous bridge-style contracts. It was a deal the Flames came to regret, and they eventually traded the forward to the Capitals for a second-round pick.
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At the time, it probably felt like an easy decision to give Mangiapane a big raise. But it was Ritch Winter, Mangiapane’s previous agent, who noticed something the Flames didn’t.
Winter recently spoke with Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 and said:
“You have to be aware of the type of goals your player scores. When Andrew scored 35 goals, he had 12 broken-play goals. Those are very difficult to replicate in the future, and I’m not sure if they (Calgary) had looked that deeply on how he scored and we got him a big raise.”
The comments suggest that Winter recognized that a chunk of that unexpected goal total came from opportunistic, chaotic situations unlikely to recur. In other words, what Mangiapane did that season wasn’t sustainable. His camp knew it, but clearly, Winter didn’t share that information with the Flames. The Flames, then led by Brad Treliving, didn’t recognize they were overpaying because they didn’t do their homework.
Did the Oilers Get Fooled As Well?
Even after Mangiapane’s goal totals dropped by more than half in every season after he scored 35 goals, teams kept giving him chances. The Oilers were the latest, offering him a two-year contract this summer at a cap hit of $3.6 million per season. Perhaps not surprisingly, things haven’t panned out, and the Oilers are actively trying to trade him.
Andrew Mangiapane, Calgary Flames (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
It is somewhat surprising that Winter would be so open about a flaw in his old client. While he wouldn’t have mentioned these things while negotiating the deals Mangiapane signed with the Flames, Capitals, and Oilers, the fact that he’s sharing them now is fascinating.
Perhaps he understands the cat is out of the bag, and several seasons with lower production have made Mangiapane an open book for other GMs. Maybe he doesn’t care because Mangiapane is no longer represented by Winter, having moved on to Allain Roy at RSG Hockey. That said, it can’t help the Oilers move on from the player, and Winter reps several clients who still play in Edmonton.
If Mangiapane’s former agent suggests that his one season in Calgary was almost as much luck as it was other factors, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement that will motivate a buyer to give Mangiapane a look at the trade deadline.
