The Vegas Golden Knights have made a trade to bring in Anthony Mantha from the Washington Capitals.
The biggest part of this deal, outside of the fact that the Golden Knights added a 20-goal scorer for two relatively inconsequential draft picks, is that the Capitals retained 50% of Mantha’s salary to give the Golden Knights even more financial flexibility.
Mark Stone is out for the foreseeable future, and Jack Eichel just returned to the lineup, and at this point in time the team still has $4,426,683 to play with per Cap Friendly. The Golden Knights currently have 23 skaters on the roster, and I would imagine someone like Grigori Denisenko could be headed to the AHL to free up additional cap space if Vegas looks to make another trade.
As for Mantha, here’s a quick look at what he will bring to the Golden Knights.
This season Mantha’s scored 20 goals and added 11 assists for 34 points in 56 games which is an improvement upon the down year he had for the Capitals the year before. Mantha is a player who has never really reached his true potential as a player, and that’s why his career high in goals in 24, and points is 48. In many ways, he feels like the quintessential player for the Golden Knights to acquire, and bank on him thriving in a new environment surrounded by a solid supporting cast.
At 5v5 he’s a strong defensive player, and a decent contributor offensively. In 56 games he posted a slash line which included a 56.74 GF%, a 49.06 CF%, and a 53.59 xGF%. He’s been on the ice for 2.40 goals against per 60 minutes, and 2.38 xG against per 60 minutes, and that element of his game will be appreciate in the absence of Mark Stone.
For context, Stone had a slash line which included a 55.22 GF%, a 50.68 CF%, and a 50.93 xGF%. He was on the ice for 2.52 goals against per 60 minutes, and 2.79 xG against per 60 minutes. The situations in which each player played isn’t exactly the same, but from a archetype perspective it is clear what the team was looking to bring in.
From a talent perspective he’s best suited for action on the second line, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets some looks on the top line. He will get a chance to show what he can do, and this is a very solid move that should help the team be more competitive.