Would Anthony Mantha Trade Make Sense for New Jersey Devils?

Daily Faceoff insider Frank Seravalli reported Monday that Washington Capitals winger Anthony Mantha is being dangled in trade talks around the league. Mantha is just the latest Capital to have been named as a potential trade piece, as Washington continues to get younger after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2013-14. 

The Washington Capitals only recently acquired Anthony Mantha from the Detroit Red Wings, trading away a haul for his services. They sent Jakub Vrana, Richard Panik, a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 second-round pick in April 2021. However, things haven’t gone according to plan for the Caps, as they can no longer micro-manage an aging roster to keep themselves in playoff contention.

Mantha is a prime trade candidate. He has just one year left on his contract, paying him $6.5 million with a $5.7 million cap hit per CapFriendly. Mantha also struggled offensively last season, registering just 11 goals and 16 assists over 67 games played. Seravalli pointed to this as another reason for Washington to move him, adding that: “Perhaps [Washington] could get someone to take a flyer on him, but if so, they’re not going to get anything in return. And more to the point, I wouldn’t be shocked if, depending on how aggressive they are and really trying to move him, that someone might actually have to pay.”

Fortunately for the New Jersey Devils, they have a lot of middle-of-the-road pieces they could swap for Mantha. Since Mantha only has a year left on his deal, salary won’t be much of an issue, even with extensions for both Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier.

The caveat is that if they get Mantha for the low, without the Capitals retaining any salary, it binds their ability to make any other moves in free agency. It also means they’d be betting on guys like Alexander Holtz and Simon Nemec to make the roster and nail down a permanent spot in the lineup right out of camp.

Anthony Mantha can be a premier scoring power forward in the NHL when he’s on his game. The problem is that Mantha has really struggled to be consistent since leaving Detroit. Mantha scored in his first four games in Washington before going goalless in his next 15, including the playoffs. Between 2017-18 and 2019-20, Mantha scored 65 goals – the same as Mitch Marner and Pierre-Luc Dubois and more than Tyler Toffoli, J.T. Miller, Mat Barzal, Kevin Fiala, Tom Wilson, and William Nylander. In that same timeframe, Mantha averaged 0.71 points-per-game and Nylander averaged 0.72.

If the cost for the Devils to acquire Mantha is the rights to a restricted free agent, like Yegor Sharangovich, or a late-round draft pick, they should absolutely pull the trigger. Mantha would add size and goal-scoring potential to the lineup, and he can probably be utilized on a variety of different line combinations. He would also add a shooter to the anemic second power-play unit, which will almost certainly be improved already with Luke Hughes coming up next season. Buying low on a talent like Anthony Mantha would be a smart move by Tom Fitzgerald and Co.