Hockey is a sport filled with missed opportunities. One of the hardest to deal with as a fan is when a team misses out on a player in the draft that goes on to superstardom. This is what happened to the Washington Capitals when they traded their first-round pick, and a different team used it to draft a super star.
In 2021-22, the Capitals traded Jacob Vrana, Richard Panik, and a first round pick in the 2021 draft (no. 23 overall) to Detroit for forward Anthony Mantha. The trade was a blockbuster that quickly fizzled for each of the three players involved saw their careers take a nosedive. The star of that trade turned out to be Dallas Stars’ forward Wyatt Johnston.
Former Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman traded the no. 23 pick in 2021 to Dallas for the 15th overall pick in 2021 as well as the no. 48 and no. 138 picks. Detroit drafted goalie Sebastian Cossa at 15 that year. Cossa played one game for Detroit in the last five years before he was traded to Utah this summer. Dallas used the no. 23 pick to draft forward Wyatt Johnston, who has been a star with Dallas.
Johnston began his NHL career in 2022-23 at age 20 and he has scored 134 goals and 129 assists for 263 points in 328 games. He has played all 82 games in each of his four seasons in the NHL as well as 62 playoff games, where he has 22 goals and 16 assists for 38 career playoff points. The Stars have made the playoffs the last four years, advancing to the conference finals three times with Johnston in their lineup.
That trade didn’t pan out for Washington or Detroit. Panik was out of the league a year later. Vrana was traded to St. Louis, where off ice issues derailed his career. He made a comeback with Washington in 2024-25 before finishing the season in Nashville after the Predators claimed him off waivers. From 2022-23 until last season, Vrana played in 85 games, scoring 22 goals and 14 assists for 36 points.
Mantha was injured and inconsistent with the Caps before they traded him to Vegas in 2024. In 235 games since 2022-23, Mantha has scored 71 goals  on 399 shots with 71 assists for 142 points. He scored career highs for the Pens last year, potting 33 goals and 64 points in 81 games. Mantha played 9 playoff games during that time and has one (1) assist.
Had the Capitals drafted Johnston, things could have been different for Washington. Instead of getting bounced out of the first round or missing the playoffs altogether, they could have made a deep playoff run. Of course, they probably would have missed the chance to hire current bench boss Spencer Carberry and would have been too good to draft Ryan Leonard at no. 8 in 2023. As for Detroit, I’m pretty sure had Yzerman held onto that pick and teamed Johnston up with Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings playoff drought would have ended a few years ago and Stevie Y would still be the GM in the Motor City.
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