TRAVERSE CITY - Anthony Mantha will try to flourish without Henrik Zetterberg on his line while avoiding the regression many experience in their second NHL season.

Mantha made an impact as a rookie for the Detroit Red Wings. He has what it takes to do it every season.

"When he moves his feet on a regular basis, he's excellent," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "He's just got such a skill package. He's 6-5, he can really skate, he can really shoot, he's got offensive sense. It's hard to duplicate that."

Mantha, who turned 23 on Saturday, was tied for third on the team in goals (17) and tied for sixth in points (36) in 60 games. He capitalized on the opportunity to play on Zetterberg's line for much of the season. Blashill's plan for 2017-18 is to play Mantha at right wing on a line with Dylan Larkin and Justin Abdelkader.

"I thought he didn't score as much when he wasn't with Zetterberg," Blashill said. "One thing we need for sure is for guys to play with other players and still produce offense. I certainly think him, Larkin and Abdelkader can produce lots of offense. We need them to do that. We just got to continue working on his habit of moving his feet all the time."

Blashill scratched Mantha in a pair of games (March 10-12) when he felt the effort was lacking.

Mantha is seeking consistency.

"I had a great first half once I got called up," Mantha said. "Maybe a little slump when I got healthy scratched two games. Then I just had to get my game going again. This year I just want to play the whole year like I started last year."

This is the most confident Mantha has been entering a season. His spot on the team is secure. But he doesn't want to get too comfortable. He wants to be gain the coach's trust at both ends of the ice.

"I need to get Blash to have in confidence in me in the D-zone when I have the puck, when I don't have the puck," Mantha said. "I think I did a pretty good job last year, I need to keep going that way. It's still a learning curve."

Mantha missed the final six games due to a broken finger suffered March 30 in a fight with Luke Witkowski in Tampa Bay. It didn't affect his off-season training. He's put on weight, going from 217 to 230 and aiming to be at 225 for the season opener Oct. 5.

Mantha, Larkin and Abdelkader are using camp and the preseason to form chemistry.

"Larkin in the middle got so much speed," Mantha said. "Abby and myself, we could open so much room for Larks and win our one-on-one battles in the corners, just be a great trio defensively."

Said Abdelkader: "(Mantha) has got potential to be a really strong, big forward that can go to the net. He's got a great shot and really good speed. Him and I can use our bodies to hang on to pucks, protect pucks and use each other."

Blashill added: "Abby is a net-front type guy who can be one of those rare commodities of a big guy who can bring physicality but has enough skill to play with good players. With Larks and Mantha, both have lots of offensive ability. Ultimately, if that line stays together, they'd have to score lots of goals."

The man who ended Mantha's rookie season is now his teammate. Mantha said he chuckled on July 1 when the Red Wings signed Witkowski.

"The first thing is he's now a teammate and what happened last year happened last year. It's all over," Mantha said. "We just joked about it. It's fun now. He's got my back for this year and that's what he's here for."

Witkowski initiated the fight as payback for Mantha pummeling the Lightning's Greg McKegg when he was down six nights earlier.

"The first day I saw him, it was before camp last week in Detroit, we were just talking about it and he was like, 'You knew what was coming,' " Mantha said. "I did know. Obviously, it's a bad first fight against Tampa and things happened.

"He's going to be a great energy guy. He's going to have our backs."