Caps land Mantha from Red Wings in deadline blockbuster
The Washington Capitals weren’t intending to reshape their roster as the NHL’s trade deadline approached Monday afternoon. They’d made a minor move the previous day, but as their closest competitors in the East Division loaded up, an opportunity presented itself.
So general manager Brian MacLellan pounced, acquiring right wing Anthony Mantha from the Detroit Red Wings for wingers Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik, a 2021 first-round draft pick and a 2022 second-round pick. Mantha is signed through the 2023-24 season with a $5.7 million average annual value.
“We came into the deadline trying to make our team better,” MacLellan said Monday night in a video conference call. “How can we make it better? We talk about a lot of players, a lot of opportunities, who’s available and we just kind of go from there. It wasn’t a conscious decision, ‘Let’s shake the team up.’ We’ve had a good year so far … Things lined up and this is what we ended up doing.”
Shortly after the Mantha deal became official, the Capitals also landed Michael Raffl from the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2021 fifthround pick. Raffl, a 32-year-old winger who can also play center, had three goals and five assists in 24 games for the Flyers.
The Mantha deal was the biggest of the deadline and will have longterm effects for the Capitals (27-114), who are currently in a tight battle atop the East Division. The Capitals, with 14 games left in the regular season, were the last of the top teams in the East to make a move at the deadline.
Boston traded for Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly; the New York Islanders acquired Kyle
Palmieri, Travis Zajac and Braydon Coburn; Pittsburgh added Jeff Carter.
Mantha, 26, is a 6-foot-5, 234-pounder known for his scoring ability. He is able to play both the left and right side and can fit in up and down the lineup. MacLellan believes he will fit best with a playmaking center in Evgeny Kuznetsov or Nicklas Backstrom.
The Capitals had a conversation about Mantha with Detroit a couple weeks ago and the deal finally came to fruition Monday.
Mantha had 11 goals and 10 assists in 42 games for Detroit this season, coming off a 2019-20 season in which he scored 16 goals with 22 assists in 43 games. Since making his NHL debut in 2015, he has 95 goals and 99 assists in 302 games.
“He’s a long player, he uses a long stick, he has a good shot,” MacLellan said. “The size factor more translates to skill than a physical running over people and I think he had that in him. He’s a big strong guy that can play a big game and uses his size and strength and length to his advantage. I think it’s an effective style on the ice.”
Raffl carried a $1.6 million cap hit and his deal is up after this season. The Flyers will retain 25 percent of Raffl’s remaining salary. Mantha will be available to play for the Capitals Tuesday night at Capital One Arena against the Flyers; Raffl will not.
Despite the new additions, the Capitals also lost a younger, electric winger in Vrana.
The 25-year-old had 11 goals and 14 assists for the Capitals this season. Vrana, who was part of the Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup title run, was set to become a restricted free agent due for a considerable salary bump this summer. The upcoming contract negotiations were a factor in the deal, according to MacLellan. Vrana was in the final year of a two-year, $6.7 million bridge deal.
Vrana, who produced no points in 15 games in the 2019 and 2020 postseasons, was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2014 draft and was a constant in the Capitals’ lineup the past three seasons until he was a healthy scratch for two games last week against New Jersey.
Capitals coach Peter Laviolette has expressed frustration with Vrana in recent weeks, suggesting his game needed a bit of a “reset.” In four games after sitting for two games, he had one goal and one assist.
MacLellan said he felt both Vrana and Panik were unhappy with their roles — Vrana in particular.
“Jakub’s a little frustrated with where he’s at here within the organization, probably wants a little more ice time, wants more responsibility and there was a tugging war between coaching staff and staffs that have had him and the way he was playing,” MacLellan said.
Panik signed a four-year, $11 million contract with the Capitals in June 2019 and was a healthy scratch in three of the Capitals’ past five games before the team put him on waivers March 7. He cleared the next day and was put on the taxi squad — a move that gave the Capitals salary cap flexibility at the trade deadline.
MacLellan admitted part of the reasoning behind the Panik deal to Detroit, plus a couple high draft picks, was so Washington could get rid of Panik’s salary cap hit.
“It never seemed to click for him here,” MacLellan said. “He’s had periods where he’s played really well for us. And then had other periods where I don’t think he got, in his mind, enough ice time and enough opportunity. So the trade for him, gives him a chance to move up in a lineup and get more ice time.”
The two moves Monday came on the heels of Sunday’s trade of Jonas Siegenthaler to the New Jersey Devils for a 2021 third-round pick.
“He wanted to play so I hope it is a good fit for him,” Laviolette said Sunday night of Siegenthaler. “He’s a terrific kid … he worked his tail off and I wish him the best and I hope he has a good place in New Jersey where he can get going and play some games and have fun playing hockey.”
Washington did look at the goaltending position as a possibility at the deadline, but decided it was confident in its two young goaltenders: rookie Vitek Vanecek and second-year goalie Ilya Samsonov. Neither have any playoff experience.
“Vitek has been pretty solid. Samsonov is improving and coming along so it is tough to bring in a guy and throw him in front of them,” MacLellan said.
Other deals
Only 17 trades were completed Monday, involving just 26 players. That’s down from the NHL trade deadline day record of 32 deals involving 55 players a year ago, two weeks before the coronavirus pandemic paused the season and dealt a devastating blow to the league’s financial picture.
The previous time fewer players were dealt on deadline day was 23 in the NHL’s pre-salary cap area on March 14, 2000.
“It’s not like the old days where if you just want a player, you go make a deal,” Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said. “Lots more maneuvering, a lot more involved in it.”
Predators GM David Poile projected the cap to continue restricting teams for the foreseeable future.
“I think you just sort of saw the tip of the iceberg with what took place here with the trading deadline,” Poile said. “There wasn’t too many deals made in this last two or three days that had players that had more than this year’s contract left, and that speaks to the salary cap not going up.”
There were 16 draft picks that moved Monday, with just one first-round selection, three second-rounders and one third-round pick.
The Islanders strengthened their roster last week by acquiring Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac from the Devils. The Penguins followed suit Monday by adding veteran depth in acquiring Jeff Carter in a deal with the Kings.
And the banged-up Bruins boosted their late-season playoff push by landing Hall, a six-time 20-goal scorer who is seeking a fresh start after an underwhelming stint with the last-place Sabres. The Bruins began the day holding the division’s fourth and final playoff spot.
Among the handful of other notable moves, the Panthers got center Sam Bennett in a deal that sent prospect forward Emil Heineman and a second-round pick to the Flames.