The Washington Capitals received Red Wings winger Anthony Mantha in a blockbuster deal in ahead of Monday’s NHL trade deadline, the team reported.
In exchange, the Capitals sent the Red Wings forwards Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik, just as a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 second-round pick.
Mantha, 26, was a 2013 first-round pick of the Red Wings and has scored 95 goals and 99 assists for 194 points in 302 career games. The winger just signed a four-year deal the Red Wings in November; Mantha is under contract through 2023-24 at a cap hit of $5.7 million.
Detroit is poised to miss the postseason for the fifth-straight season – following the franchise’s record 25-year playoff streak. Mantha has for some time been seen as a center piece to work around, close by captain Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. Anyway general manager Steve Yzerman is embarking on a full rebuild, and sources say in recent weeks became open to the idea of trading Mantha.
Vrana, 25, was a first-round draft pick of the Capitals in 2014. He played in 23 of 24 games during their 2018 Stanley Cup run. Vrana scored a career-high 25 goals in 69 games last season and has 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 39 games this season. The Prague native is on the second year of a two-year bridge deal that pays him $3.35 million every year.
Panik, 30, joins his 6th team in his nine-year NHL career. The winger has hit the 20-objective imprint just a single time in his career and now reunites with Yzerman, who was Panik’s first GM when he broke into the association with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012-13. Panik is under agreement through 2022-23, in an deal that pays him $2.75 million yearly.
The Capitals likewise exchanged for Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl on Monday, for additional forward profundity.
Capitals GM Brian MacLellan had likewise explored an trade for Nick Foligno, sources tell ESPN, yet the Columbus Blue Jackets captain was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
Through 42 games, Washington is 27-11-4 – useful for first place in the East Division. Nonetheless, the Islanders are right behind Washington, additionally with 58 points, and the Penguins in third place with 56.
