Did the Washington Capitals get enough in return at the 2024 NHL trade deadline?

The Washington Capitals were among the biggest sellers at the 2024 trade deadline, even if they are still very entrenched in the playoff race. They moved quite a few serviceable players who will serve their respective new teams well, and Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan is hoping his returns were enough to justify the trades. 

So, did he get enough compensation for Anthony Mantha, Joel Edmundson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov? None of the players he traded over the past week were exactly stars, but they produced well enough to at least warrant compensation that should make the franchise better off not only for the 2024 playoff race but in the near future. 

Did Washington get enough in the Anthony Mantha trade?

The Anthony Mantha trade was rather straightforward, with the Caps sending one of their better scorers with 50 percent salary retention for a second-round pick this year and a fourth in 2026. Mantha left the Capitals with 34 points and 20 goals in 56 games, and he was their top goal scorer next to Dylan Strome, who has found the net 22 times. 

On the surface, this doesn’t look like a trade that benefits the Capitals in the present, but let’s take into account that Washington extended Rasmus Sandin shortly afterward, a young player who will be in Washington toward the end of the decade. With Sandin’s extension in mind, this trade’s immediate aftermath did help the Caps in the present. 

Sandin’s solid play earned him the right to stick around in Washington. Overall, the Caps traded away one player who likely wouldn’t have stayed in the nation’s capital following the season, acquired a couple of picks for him, and extended one of their better youngsters. It’s hard to argue that the Capitals didn’t get enough here, even if it initially didn’t look that way on the surface.