Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
It was a really weird trade based on a GM assuming that Mantha had untapped potential. Vrana was a higher draft pick (13th vs 20th), and was two years younger. Drafts vary of course. However, in the seasons that they were traded for one another, Vrana was out-producing Mantha slightly (same 11 goals, 14 assists vs 10, but 3 less games played). Then to add another 1st and 2nd? Panik was a salary dump, and was signed at 2.75 for an additional year beyond the season. The following season, Detroit trades Panik (50% retained) and a 2nd round pick to the Islanders for Nick Leddy who was having a decent season, so I don't think that Panik was that poor of a cap dump to necessitate a 2nd round pick being thrown into the deal from Washington to Detroit.
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I believe the 1st and 2nd were not only to take on Panik's contract, but there were already reports of character issues with Vrana. Since he later ended up in the assistance program and waived multiple times, there may have been something to those rumours.