Grading the Anthony Mantha trade

The Washington Capitals finally made a crazy move. Welcome to the trade deadline. They sent Anthony Mantha to the Vegas Golden Knights. In exchange they got a 2024 second round pick and a 2026 fourth while retaining 50 percent of his salary. That wasn't all they did.

In addition the Hershey Bears got another boost. In addition to Evgeny Kuznetsov sutiing up for them on the ice this weekend in Charlotte, they also got Matthew Phillips back. And that's not all.

Washington reloaded the salary of Rasmus Sandin for five more seasons. They looked interally for youth and maybe they aren't done yet. In practice news Nic Dowd and Martin Fehervary are out tomorrow night while Darcy Kuemper gets the start in goal. Dowd was mentioned in trade rumors and yesterday I decided to defend him instead of Mantha. Good choice on my end but not everyone agrees oh well.

But overall I think it seems like general manager Brian MacLellan knows what he's doing even if he decided to make a deal with Pip in Vegas. And I'm referecing Twlight Zone not Great Expectations. But Mantha will have those great expectations on a Golden Knights team betting on winning the Cup again.

Overall I gotta give this a B-. I say a B- is OK and flirts with slightly above average. But it's better than incomplete. I don't have a crystal ball for 2024 and 2026 so that's not quite A worthy. But I won't deny that fans shouldn't have taken him for granted before the season. But if the Caps were to trade him anyway he was going to have the season of his life to up his value anyway.

Reminder that before the 3 p.m. trade deadline Friday the Capitals take on the Penguins tomorrow night at 7 p.m. on Monumental.