Trent Mann has no doubt that the Ottawa Senators will get a good ice hockey player in third and fifth in next week’s NHL draft.
But he also wants to use a scout for Ottawa’s four picks in the second round.
Mann, the Senators’ chief amateur scout and quarterback for Ottawa’s draft October 6-7, gently reminds General Manager Pierre Dorion that solid talent will be available beyond numbers 3 and 5 through 28 for the late first round and four second round picks – at # 33, 52, 59 and 61.
It’s Dorion’s job to listen to competing offers for those picks – the Senators have a total of 13 picks – but Mann stood up for his amateur staff during a Zoom pre-draft with reporters.
“I’ve been letting Pierre know for a while that we’ll still have some solid players in this second round. We feel strong about it and there will be a number of them on the board at this point, ”said Mann from his New Brunswick home.
“While I understand if he has a deal to make, I want him to know that we can pick a player who will definitely help us if he doesn’t think he’ll help us right away.”
Mann provided insight into the design and strategies involved, and provided guidance on how staff will use dummy drafts to practice switching in the event a deal comes and Ottawa is eliminated from its current design slots.
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When asked about the thinking of the club in numbers 3 and 5, Mann smiled.
“I think Pierre was pretty clear about what the plan was [No. 3]”He said, indicating the popular belief that Ottawa would design any design Not The Los Angeles Kings take second place overall – either Quinton Byfield or Tim Stutzle. # 1 Consensus Alexis Lafreniere is expected to finish first overall in the New York Rangers unless they pull the vote.
“At the [No.5]I think it will depend on what happens before us, “said Mann. “We need to be prepared for a number of different things, including a scenario where someone might want to step up and take action [No. 5] So what does that give us? “
It is expected to be a busy design with a lot of movement. There are teams desperate for tips and salary changes because they are coming under pressure from the flat salary cap in a year that has been a drag on NHL revenue.
If the Senators pick a fifth-placed striker, Mann says there are a number of strong wingers, including Lucas Raymond, who has the advantage of showing off his game in Europe with Frolunda.
“Lucas Raymond, we’ve seen a lot lately because he’s playing,” said Mann. “It’s a bonus for us, and I think he is too. We’ve seen him grow over the past six or seven months and play in the men’s league last year and this year. ”
A scout’s view of Byfield vs. Stutzle
Mann gave us a thorough breakdown of the merits of Byfield, the massive 6-foot-4 OHL center, and Stutzle, the eye-catching C / LW from Germany, including what is more NHL capable at the time.
“Two very good hockey players,” said Mann. “Very different players. Obviously, Quinton has the great physical presence that is immediately noticeable. He’s a real kid who works extremely hard, competes extremely hard every day, and brings skills that many great players don’t necessarily have.
“Tim Stutzle, if you interviewed both children, Stutzle is a little more mature at the moment because he has lived with men for the past year and a half. Being with men, ex-NHL boys, his level of maturity is a little more advanced.
“He has speed and skill where Byfield, while moving well for a taller man, brings more strength. Two completely different players, but two very good kids. “
It is worth mentioning again that Byfield has just turned 18 and is therefore a full seven months younger than Stutzle.
“Stutzle is probably closer to being (NHL) ready based on the fact that he played in the DEL and was with these guys that you have to wait and see for Quinton,” says Mann.
Mann thinks that Byfield’s development would not hurt to spend another season as a junior at Sudbury, while Stutzle has the advantage of being able to play in the AHL next season.
“The options are more for Tim, but Quinton is ready to fight for a place,” says Mann.
Center or wing for Stutzle?
Boy Scouts just love to talk about hockey trifles, and so a man grins when he says that his staff have lively debates “in every meeting” about whether Stutzle is better suited for the center he played as a junior. or for the wing in which he plays the German League (DEL).
“Some certainly believe he can play C, and we have some who believe he would be more productive on the wing,” says Mann. “The debate continues.
“I’m not worried about whether he plays middle or wing. I think he will be a productive player in both places. Ideal would it be center? Yes, but I have no productivity concerns – if he’s on the wing he’ll still be a productive player. “
Like Dorion, Mann is disappointed that due to travel restrictions for COVID-19, not all amateur scouts can be in one room for the design. However, employees are able to communicate via laptops, so Mann jokes that he is approaching “death by zoom”, as school administrators used to refer to as “death by meetings”.
While the Zoom calls allow for longer interviews with potential customers, Mann laments the loss of medical and physical tests that would normally be possible in a combine harvester. COVID strikes again.
With Yaroslav Askarov having an interesting history as a goalkeeper with potential for Round 1, Mann said he was confident that he would take any player, including a goalkeeper, if he felt it was right for the organization. That led him to comment on the Senators’ fourth overall win in 2018 … a child who was not Filip Zadina.
“A couple of years ago we took a kid named Brady Tkachuk with us who wasn’t accurate – I’ll be perfectly honest, we took a little time for that. But we felt back then as the best player who was suitable for the Senators and what we wanted to do. “
No regrets about it.
“It’s not about position. It’s about the player with whom you can move as far as possible with the squad or the organization, ”he says.
Brotherly love … up to a point
It is known in Ottawa, but less elsewhere, that Trent Mann’s brother Troy happens to be the head coach of the Belleville Senators of the AHL, Ottawa’s top farm team.
When asked if they talk to each other a lot in season or out of season, Trent Mann said the brothers know their limits.
“I’m trying to stay out of his business and he’s trying to stay out of my business,” said Mann.
“All I can say is that we tried to make it a ‘mandate’ (no pun intended) within the staff to spend more time in Belleville … just to see what happens and around Seeing the path of development that will help us make better choices or continue to make good decisions to move forward. “
While Troy Mann did an excellent job in Belleville last season, his brother says there is no need to “pat him on the back” as his work speaks for itself.
“It’s all pretty positive,” says Mann. “Troy and his staff did an excellent job preparing these players and the feedback helps us prepare us to make the right decisions.”
On Monday, the day before the show, Ottawa’s design staff will go through mock drafts as they test the online zoom-to-zoom inputs from scouts out of town.
