Being born one day too late to be eligible for the past NHL draft might work out for Anthony Mantha.

The Val-d'Or Foreurs right wing, by most accounts, made huge strides in the back half of last season. Saturday, he displayed the full gamut of what he can do with his puck-handing skills and 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame with a tour de force performance in Saint John. The 18-year-old scored the fastest natural hat trick so far on the major junior hockey season, tallying three times in a two-minute, 56-second plan against the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The second goal was probably the best, as Mantha feinted left and beat a defender wide, then deked goalie Alex Fournier and tucked the puck inside the post. His hat-trick goal also came on a breakaway.

In other words, Kamloops Blazers' forward JC Lipon's distinction for fastest hat trick in the whole Canadian Hockey League this season didn't even last 24 hours.

Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Gerard Gallant, who coached Saint John the past three years, holds the QMJHL for the fastest hat trick. Gallant tallied thrice in a span of 2:04 during his days with the Verdun Juniors. That was in the freewheeling 1980s, though, when scoring was much more frequent, especially in the Quebec League. Three goals in just inside of three minutes in 2012 might top three in just more than two in Gallant's day.

Meantime, Mantha displayed why NHL Central Scouting has him listed as an A skater for the 2013 draft.

(Stick taps: Jérôme Bérubé, Jamie Tozer.)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.