Capitals land Mantha from the Red Wings
Flat cap or not, the Washington Capitals refused to stand by and watch their division foes improve their rosters without making a move at the NHL trade deadline Monday.
Not long after the Boston Bruins acquired 2018 NHL MVP Taylor Hall from Buffalo, the Capitals responded by mortgaging a valuable portion of their future to acquire forward Anthony Mantha from the Detroit Red Wings.
With the championship window beginning to close on the Alex Ovechkin-led roster, Washington went all in on Mantha by trading wingers Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik, a 2021 first- and a 2022 secondround pick to Detroit.
The 26-year-old Mantha is a two-time 20-goalscorer, uses his big 6-foot5, 234-pound frame to create space and is signed for three more seasons at at salary-cap hit of $5.7 million.
So much for the notion that the cap, which remained flat at $81.5 million, would prevent every team from swinging a blockbuster deal at the deadline. The cap did not budge from last season, a result of the economic blow suffered by the NHL during the pandemic that hit U.S. sports 13 months ago.
The Capitals, three years removed from winning their first and only Stanley Cup championship, began the day tied with the New York Islanders atop the East Division, and two points ahead of Pittsburgh. In a separate trade, Washington also acquired forward Michael Raffl from Philadelphia.
The Islanders strengthened their roster last week by acquiring Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac from New Jersey. Pittsburgh followed suit Monday by adding veteran depth in acquiring Jeff Carter in a deal with Los Angeles.
And the banged-up Bruins boosted their late-season playoff push by landing Hall, a six-time 20-goalscorer who is seeking a fresh start after an underwhelming stint with the last-place Sabres. Boston began the day holding the division’s fourth and final playoff spot.
Among the handful of notable moves, Florida got center Sam Bennett in a deal that sent prospect forward Emil Heineman and a second-round pick to Calgary. The move came two days after Florida acquired defenseman Brandon Montour in a trade with Buffalo.
The Vegas Golden Knights acquired center Mattias Janmark from the Chicago Blackhawks while West foe Colorado brought back forward Carl Soderberg in a trade that sent forwards Ryder Rolston and Josh Dickinson to Chicago.
Just as notable were the players not traded.
Los Angeles Kings center Alex Iafallo and Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton, both pending free agents, had their names come off the market after signing contract extensions.
Goalie Linus Ullmark is staying in put in Buffalo after the Sabres had enough promising discussions on an extension to believe a deal can be reached before Ullmark is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, according to a person with direct knowledge of talks. who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the talks were private.
The salary cap did handcuff several teams from making moves while also heavily benefiting numerous buyers. The Bruins, for example, landed Hall at a cut-rate price by giving up only a second-round pick and forward in Anders Bjork, while also getting the Sabres to retain half of what’s left on Hall’s oneyear, $8 million contract.
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CANADIENS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2>> Tomas Tatar scored two goals — including an empty-netter — and Montreal ended visiting Toronto’s six-game winning streak. Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson also scored for the Canadiens, who won for the first time in four games.
SENATORS 4, JETS 2 >> Brady Tkachuk scored twice, Connor Brown extended his franchise-record goalscoring streak to eight games and Ottawa beat visiting Winnipeg ended a four-game losing streak.
RED WINGS 3, HURRICANES 1>> Adam Erne and Filip Zadina scored two quick third-period goals while Jonathan Bernier finished with 37 saves to help Detroit beat Carolina.