Quoting: AnonymousSensFan
Hey, if you're fine paying him 6M for ~15g/45pts, that's cool. I don't begrudge the player. He put up 35g in a contract year and got the bag, good for him.
Mathieu Joseph is a high energy, 2way winger, plays gritty, good even strength player, kills penalties real good too. Puts up similar point totals too (at least this season). He makes 3M and is in his prime. That's half the price. Sure, Joseph won't put up 35g, but that seems to be an outlier for Mangiapane and not the norm.
Sens don't have cap space to pay that much for someone that doesn't put up the points. There are 2 way vets available every year in FA that doesn't require a 6M investment. And, their prospect pool is shallow so a high 2nd is valuable to them.
Again his expected goals this season is over 21 so far, so he's been quite unlucky in terms of actually putting it in the net. For comparison only 3 players on Ottawa have a higher individual expected goals, yet 6 players have scored more goals than him. Also your GM is on record of saying he wants guys that play the game right. Mange is exactly one of those types of guys. He is not a natural goal scorer but he has a very good shot and gives it a 110% every game. He is not a 1st line star player but a 2nd line chance creator. 2 years ago he scored 35 goals because he was playing on the 2nd line behind the best line in the league. He was still playing against high quality opponents (as you could see in one of JFresh's charts) but that 1st line plus the Flames system allowed for dominant 5v5 play. He's shooting% was only up about 2.5% from his career average that year. The last 2 years (after the departure of Gaudreau and Tkachuk) he was forced to step into their shoes as Huberdeau faceplanted and the Flames were left with zero star power. His S% fell from 18.9% to 9.3%. And this year was much of the same, he's punching above his weight. You put him in a secondary role where he doesn't have to be "the guy" and he thrives. Just look at Hagel in Tampa, he's clearly not a superstar but a pure energy guy with a strong 2-way game. If you traded Hagel for Mangiapane 1 for 1 I can almost guarantee Mange would have over 60 points right now.
I am not saying Ottawa should trade for a 5.8M winger, I am saying he is exactly what you are looking for as a player type. You could go out and get a similar player like Teravainen this summer but it will cost you just as much cap wise. I think Ottawa should be reevaluating their roster this summer, deciding who is core and who isn't. I also think they should be looking to add a top 4 RD. I don't expect anyone to trade for Mangiapane at 5.8M for the exact reason of guys like Teravainen, the winger market is pretty flooded this summer. However I think Calgary will end up trading Mangiapane with retention at some point before next years deadline and he will fetch quite a good return.
Here is a side by side comparison of Mangiapane and Joseph, and while they may play a similar style one clearly has the edge over the other. Also
here is a side by side with Hagel, and as you can see they are essentially the same player.