Golden Knights will not re-sign pending UFA Anthony Mantha 

The Vegas Golden Knights made a lot of noise at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. Among their many moves, was the addition of forward Anthony Mantha in a trade with the Washington Capitals. 

The moves didn’t work out for Vegas, as the Golden Knights were unable to defend their championship, losing in seven games to the Dallas Stars in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Now, they need to retroactively address those decisions. This week, they got started by informing pending unrestricted free agent Anthony Mantha that they will not re-sign him this summer. 

Mantha will test the open market when free agency begins on July 1. 

“Vegas made it clear that they were not going to put me back under contract,” Mantha told RDS. “I’m excited, but at the same time, I’m stressed as everything comes into play. We’ll see, whether it’s July 1st or a little later. Hoping we will have good news.”

Mantha played pretty well with Vegas down the stretch, tallying 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 18 regular-season games while averaging 14:26 of ice time per game. He dealt with a minor undisclosed injury toward the end of the season, and in the postseason, was held quiet. The Quebec native played in just the first three of seven playoff games for the Golden Knights, not recording a point and finishing with a minus-1 rating. 

Mantha had an excellent regular season for Washington, scoring 20 goals for the first time since 2018-19. He tallied 34 points and a plus-5 rating in 56 games for the Caps and seemed to revive his career with 44 points overall, his most since 2018-19 (48). 

The 29-year-old forward was in his final season of a four-year, $22.8 million contract ($5.7 million average annual value) with the Detroit Red Wings in 2020.