A few months ago, Anthony Mantha was a winger who wanted a new home, and the Washington Capitals were a team that wanted to give him one. The player and team have wanted to part for some time, and on Tuesday, each got their wish as the Vegas Golden Knights acquired Mantha three days before the NHL trade deadline.
The Golden Knights gave up a 2024 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick.
Given Mantha’s significant $5.7 million salary cap hit, the Golden Knights trade surrender was surprising.
Mantha, 29, hit the 20-goal plateau for the first time since 2018-19 when he was with the Detroit Red Wings. The RW has 34 points, including 20 goals, in 56 games this season. The 6-foot-5, 234-pound Quebec native was swapped in a trade of struggling players in 2020-21 when the Capitals traded Jakub Vrana to the Red Wings for Mantha.
Anthony Mantha Scouting Report
The original deal hasn’t paid a lot of dividends for Washington. Until notching 20 tallies this season, Mantha had a total of 24 goals over the past three seasons. He is in the final year of a four-year deal.
Mantha is a big winger and was a big scorer in juniors, but he has never been the dominant scorer he was thought to be. The winger is big, fast, and can stickhandle in a shoebox. His offensive instincts on the positive are eclipsed by the lack of effort and play away from the puck.
He can disappear for long stretches of games and seasons.
Mantha is a left-hander who plays his off-wing. There is no question that he has all of the skills to be successful. Perhaps he’ll be the next reclamation project to come up 7s in Vegas. If not, Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon is not committed to the player beyond this season.
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