The exchange of Anthony Mantha and Jakub Vrána was a good idea… in concept. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman felt he had reached his limit with Mantha and Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan felt he had come to an impasse with Vrána. Both general managers had talented players that were underperforming in their current environments.
As a result, both general managers felt there was no chance at resolving issues with the players, at least in their existing environments. It wasn’t working, but maybe a change of scenery would be beneficial for all parties.
The battle cry among fans for the first year following the trade was “who won the trade?” That debate has quieted over time as it became apparent no team was going to win the trade in the end. Simply put, the trade failed on both ends.
We don’t need to beat a dead horse and fully revisit the issues with each player (I thoroughly detailed Vrana’s plight here). But in summary, Vrana had authority and motivation issues, among other things, and Mantha was labeled lazy and unable to score goals. As a result, the exchange was made.
Both players flourished in their first few games with their new teams, when they were first introduced to a new situation (read: uncomfortable). However, once comfort settled in, both players returned to their old, underwhelming ways.
The exchange was the right move. Yzerman and MacLellan are very bright individuals and both have built Stanley Cup winning teams. The concept, in hindsight, was generally a good idea: Exchange two high-end, underperforming players in hopes that they will flourish in another environment. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work.
The Capitals are reportedly looking to deal Mantha and Vrána has already been dealt from the Red Wings to the St. Louis Blues, as both of the very talented players will unlikely ever reach their full potential. That’s a shame, for the players, and fans.
We can debate the particulars of the trade (draft picks, etc.) and probably will for years to come, but the bottom line is both general managers felt it needed to be done. It just didn’t pay any dividends. That will happen.
We’ve seen other players benefit from a change of scenery. Both Chandler Stephenson and Andre Burakovsky are good examples of players traded away and doing well in their new environments, and Sonny Milano and Nicolas Aube-Kubel are good examples of players benefiting from a new life in Washington. Changing a players “scenery” is a worthy endeavor, it has worked many times in the past, but it just didn’t work in the Mantha And Vrana trade.
By Jon Sorensen
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