Capitals Almost Healthy, Must Make Trade to Free Up Cap Space

The Washington Capitals have been one of the most injury-plagued teams this season and it really hurt them at the start. But the team has started to get healthy and now sits in third place in the division. Three key players are close to returning – T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson, and Nicklas Backstrom. That will give the Capitals a huge boost, but they will also have to deal with the cap.

The Capitals came into the season anticipating a number of their players would be out long-term. Wilsons and Backstrom have yet to play a game this season while Connor Brown suffered a season-ending injury just four games in. Seeing how Backstrom has a cap hit of $9.2 million AAV and Wilson has a cap hit of $5.167 million AAV, someone is going to have to be moved before all players return. There is one candidate that makes the most sense for a number of reasons – Anthony Mantha.

Capitals Must Move on From Mantha

Mantha has not been the player the Capitals hoped for when they traded Jakub Vrana, a 2021 23rd overall pick, and 2022 52nd overall pick. He was a force on the Detroit Red Wings and played a lot more than he has in Washington. That’s not only because the forwards are deep for the Capitals, but also since his production hasn’t been great. That’s been shown this season as he had every opportunity to play near the top of the lineup with many injuries and couldn’t secure a spot.

This season Mantha has nine goals and 21 points in 39 games which is even less productive than last season when he scored nine goals and 23 points in 37 games. His ice time is down from the 17:30 minutes he averaged in Detroit to 15:15 with the Capitals in parts of three seasons.

Mantha was ramping up and becoming a very good player in the last few seasons with the Red Wings. He is a two-time 24-plus goal scorer and almost finished the 2019-20 season at a point-per-game. He used to operate at a 0.37 goals-per-game. Now he is scoring at just 0.24 goals-per-game with the Capitals. It is time to cut ties and admit the trade hasn’t worked out.

Capitals Will Get Much Less for Mantha Than They Paid

We’ve gone over the lack of production and inability to stay a relevant player in the Capitals top-six since arriving in Washington. Now we’ll get into the cap hit and why Mantha is the player to move for that reason as well.

Mantha and Wilson play similar games, except Wilson is more effective in many ways. They’re both big, heavy, play a tough game, and can score goals; exactly what a power forward should do. Wilson is much more physical, gritty, and is a consistent producer in the top-six. Both players are under contract until the end of next season, but Mantha has a higher cap hit.

There have already been talks that the Capitals could be looking into making a 1-for-1 trade involving Mantha to get him a fresh start and bring in someone also needing one. Brock Boeser and the Vancouver Canucks have been linked previously. But realistically, the Capitals can’t afford to take on any cap. They will have to be content with getting a much smaller return for Mantha than they paid for, but a player like Oshie who has a similar cap hit has given much more to the team.

The Capitals know they are going to get more from their returning players than they have from Mantha. He will go back down to the bottom-six and fail to produce very much. It is an overpayment for someone contributing like he does and the Capitals have a few seasons left of competing. Mantha is not a part of the success.