It feels like the trade floodgates are about to open up. Earlier this evening, the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals announced they linked up for a trade that sent Anthony Mantha to the Golden Knights for a couple of draft picks. The Capitals also retained 50 percent of Mantha’s $5.75 million cap hit. Here are the full details:
Mantha has bounced back in a big way this season, with 20 goals in 56 games — a pace of 29 goals over 82 games. With Mark Stone out long-term with an injury, he could provide a significant upgrade to a Golden Knights roster that needs it on the wing. As for the Capitals, it looks like they’re content with selling despite being competitive heading into the deadline.
Golden Knights Needed a Scoring Winger
It’s easy to see why the Golden Knights targeted Mantha in a trade. After Ivan Barbashev and Jonathan Marchessault, their wing depth is suffering quite a bit on their other three lines. And with Stone not even a certainty for the playoffs, it makes sense to take a chance on Mantha.
Mantha has been great this season, specifically at five-on-five. He was the Capitals’ second-most efficient five-on-five scorer behind Hendrix Lapierre, averaging 2.27 points per 60 minutes. He ranks in the top ten league-wide in goal scoring, averaging 1.49 goals per 60 at five-on-five. That’s a more efficient rate than Artemi Panarin, David Pastrnak, and Sidney Crosby, to name a few forwards.
The one concern with Mantha is that he is shooting 22.2 percent, an unsustainably high rate. He is a 12.6 percent shooter for his career, meaning he will regress at some point. The question is, will that happen with a change of scenery with the Golden Knights? Or will it happen next season? If his shooting luck runs out with the Golden Knights, this trade might not work as well as hoped.
But even then, I think there’s plenty Mantha brings to the table that will help the Golden Knights. He creates plenty of offense at five-on-five, and his defensive game is actually quite good. Head coach Bruce Cassidy is going to play him somewhere in their top-six, so he should have the opportunity to produce, especially if he keeps this up:
With the Capitals retaining 50 percent on Mantha’s contract, that still gives the Golden Knights plenty of room to add another forward with the LTIR money they have available to them. They’ve been among the teams rumored for Jake Guentzel, so they could pull it off money-wise if they’re still in the running for him.
But even without Guentzel, the Golden Knights did well to address a specific need without giving away some of their best assets. Add in that they got retention, and any other plans they have are still available to them.
Golden Knights grade: A-
Capitals End Up Selling High on Mantha
Even though the Capitals have exceeded expectations and are not out of it in the playoff race, you have to admire that it appears they’ve decided to sell. A second-round pick in 2024 and a fourth in 2026 might not seem like much, but they probably wouldn’t have thought they’d get this kind of return for Mantha even a few months ago, given how his 2022-23 season went.
The Capitals want to get younger, so acquiring a couple of picks will set that in motion, whether it’s using those picks at the draft or dangling them in trades to add some more young talent. Even with 50 percent retention, I don’t think they could’ve gotten more. And with how Mantha’s season is going, I think they sold high on him and got the best return possible. They also still have two retention slots open, so GM Brian MacLellan can retain on future deals if he needs to, which could end up being the case over the next couple of days.
Capitals grade: B+
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Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick
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