The Washington Capitals have acquired forward Anthony Mantha in a blockbuster deal with the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings receive forwards Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik. The Wings also receive 2021 first and 2022 second-round draft picks.
Capitals Acquire Anthony Mantha
Capitals have acquired Anthony from Red Wings for Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik, a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 second-round pick.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) April 12, 2021
In a late afternoon move by the Capitals and the Red Wings, Steve Yzerman has swapped players and received two draft picks. Mantha, a 26-year-old winger, has appeared in 42 games for the Red Wings this year. In that time he has eleven goals and 10 assists for 21 points. He has appeared in over 300 NHL games and scored 95 goals and 99 assists for just under 200 career points.
Jakub Vrana was a part of the 2018 Stanley Cup-winning Capitals roster. Vrana has played 39 games and scored 11 goals and 14 assists. Richard Panik has played in 36 games this season only scoring three goals and six assists. Vrana, a former first-round draft pick of the Capitals, has played in 284 games in Washington throughout his career, scoring 76 goals and 81 assists for 157 career points. Panik has played for five different franchises, including the Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 505 NHL games, he has scored 87 goals and 103 assists for 190 career points.
What This Means for the Future
Yzerman and the Red Wings have stockpiled two more draft picks for the team to use in the next few drafts. Since entering as the team’s general manager last season, Yzerman has been adding draft picks for himself in every trade. He now has seven draft picks in the first three rounds of this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. Adding Vrana and Panik give Yzerman two players to use in their rebuild process. Vrana is a restricted free agent this summer with a current cap hit of $3.35 million. Panik is on his current deal, with a cap hit of $1.675 million, through the summer of 2023.
Washington adds more offensive firepower to their current roster. This move also seems to put them in some sort of a “win now” mode for the rest of the season. Washington loses a great, young, top-six winger and a top-nine power forward in this deal. They had to shed some cap to add Mantha and it opens up some room for the expansion draft this summer, however.
Main Photo: DETROIT, MICHIGAN – FEBRUARY 17: Anthony Mantha #39 of the Detroit Red Wings skates against the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena on February 17, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
