Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

PITTSBURGH -- Andreas Athanasiou grabbed his phone and started searching for the right emoji.

The text he ended up sending to good friend Anthony Mantha?

"A bunch of hats," Athanasiou said today, as he prepared to play for the Detroit Red Wings against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center (7 p.m., NBCSN, FSD).

The night before, it escaped the notice of no one involved with the Wings that prospect Anthony Mantha recorded his first hat trick in a four-point game for the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins in a 4-1 win over Milwaukee. Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke after the game to Detroit general manager Ken Holland and assistant Ryan Martin, who were at the game.

"They said he played really, really good," Blashill said. "He didn't just get a hat trick, he scored NHL goals. He did a real good job. There were some areas of the game where he's got to make sure he continues to improve at -- plays on the wall to get pucks out, breaking out of his zone -- those are going to be critical things, because when you get up here, you're only allowed a couple of mistakes."

Get up here? Could Mantha be nearing an NHL debut? No so fast. Much as Dylan Larkin had to be a top-nine forward to make the team, Mantha isn't joining the Wings any time soon unless he can supplant some veterans.

"We'd have to be convinced that he could beat out a (Tomas Tatar) or Larkin or (Henrik) Zetterberg or (a Justin) Abdelkader and be in a situation where he is on one of those top two lines and be able to beat those guys out and be better than them," Blashill said.

Blashill pointed out that he has a line with Riley Sheahan, Luke Glendening and Darren Helm "that's been great since we put them together. They do a great job of both creating O-zone time and energy and playing against the other team's best line.

"So now you're down to another line that's going to play seven minutes if you're not on special teams. That doesn't make any sense, to put him in that situation when he's finally really starting to gain confidence. I watched him lose his confidence last year. I know how that goes in the American league -- you've got to make sure you put people in the right spot to build their confidence."

Blashill was the coach in Grand Rapids in 2014-15 when Mantha turned pro. It wasn't pretty.

The Wings drafted Mantha, 21, at No. 20 overall in 2013, after he had lit up the QMJHL. His first season with the Griffins was marred first by a fractured tibia suffered during training camp, and then by an utterly unimpressive performance that saw Mantha finish with 15 goals among 33 points in 62 games.

This past September, Mantha arrived at camp humbled and hungry, saying he had learned he has to work harder. Now he has 15 goals and 33 points after just 44 games.

"He's come a long way," said Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet, who has spent much of the past two seasons as Griffins teammates with Mantha. "He's doing a lot better on the ice and mentally. I think he's handling himself and maturing a lot. It's really good for his game."

Athanasiou has spent many shifts with Mantha, who towers at 6-feet-5 and 200-plus pounds. "He has such good skill and size and speed, so it's fun to play with him," Athanasiou said. "It's just finding your rhythm. He knows how good he is. We can all see how good he is, too. It's good for him to get that hat trick."

Blashill stressed that the Wings have to make sure that, much as they've done with Larkin, that they put Mantha in position to succeed. "We have to keep him in a spot where he can really be confident," Blashill said. "One of the worst things you can do is put a player in a spot where he comes up here and plays six minutes, seven minutes, a night. AA has got a pretty unique ability to have an impact in six or seven minutes because of what his game is, it equates to skating and energy. Anthony is much different than that.

"From Anthony's perspective, I'm glad I'm hearing that he's playing good. I'm glad that he's gaining confidence offensively and scoring goals. That's what he's was drafted to do is score. He's a great kid who wants to get better."

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.