Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman gets a top grade at the NHL trade deadline, unloading an underachiever and adding to the team’s short-term and longer-term gain without sacrificing flexibility.
He found a taker for Anthony Mantha, a superbly skilled but equally frustrating player, in the Washington Capitals, and banked a first-round pick and a former-first round pick in Jakub Vrana among the return.
“We’re trying to add draft picks or prospects to expedite the rebuild that we’re under,” Yzerman said. “This was an opportunity to acquire picks but still try to keep as competitive as possible.
“We feel like we get a replacement for the offense that we’re losing and a player at the position we’re losing in trading Anthony in acquiring Jakub.”
Vrana and Richard Panik, the other forward involved in the deal, are expected to be at Wednesday’s practice. The Wings are scheduled to host the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday.
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Vrana projects into the top-six forwards mix well. The 25-year-old twice has topped the 20-goal mark twice already, and while that was on an elite team, he’s a highly skilled winger who the Capitals drafted at 13th in 2014. (that was the same draft where the Wings nabbed Dylan Larkin at 15th.)
Vrana is in the last year of a contract and will be a restricted free agent. He could turn out to be a good addition both for the present and the future. The trade also yielded a first-round pick in 2021 and a second-round pick in 2022. Over the weekend Yzerman made three trades that yielded one fourth-round and two fifth-round picks in 2021. Yzerman used the deadline as best he could to add to the rebuild.
“We’re trying to become more competitive but also add assets,” Yzerman said.
Yzerman signed Mantha, 26, to a four-year, $22.8 million extension in the offseason. Mantha has the size (6 feet 5, 234 pounds) and skill set to be among the league’s power forwards, but it’s so noticeable when he’s not hustling. He had 11 goals and 10 assists in 42 games. A first-round pick from 2013, Mantha tallied 95 goals and 99 assists in 302 games with the Wings.
“As we were getting to the trade deadline, we were talking to teams around the league to try and see if there is a fit in what we’re trying to do,” Yzerman said. “We felt like we could get a replacement for Anthony and add picks as well.
“I think Anthony Mantha is a very talented hockey player. I hope he does well, and I expect him to do well in Washington.”
Panik, 30, has three goals and six assists in 36 games. He played for Yzerman for a couple years in Tampa Bay, part of a 500-plus career games. He’s under contract through 2022-23 at a $2.75 million average salary cap hit.
With the exception of Larkin’s contract, which runs through 2022-23, the majority of the players are deals that either expire this season or in 2022.
Pending unrestricted free agents include Jonathan Bernier and Luke Glendening. One team inquired about Bobby Ryan before he was lost to a season-ending injury last week. Teams were handcuffed by a flat salary cap and a loss of revenues a year into the pandemic.
“This is a stranger year than others,” Yzerman said. “The market was a little bit different. Other than the Anthony Mantha trade, we got a couple late calls on things that didn’t really make sense for us to do.
“I accomplished everything that I could that really made sense for us. Would I have liked to done more or different things? Maybe. I’m pleased with the trades we did make.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.