In an expected move reported by Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch over a week ago, the Ottawa Senators have officially announced their decision to part ways with assistant general manager Trent Mann. The 50-year-old has been affiliated with the Senators since joining as an amateur scout in 2011 and joined as a full-time member in the fall of 2016.
Last season was Mann’s sole campaign holding the role of assistant GM. The New Brunswick native had been the team’s director of amateur scouting for the previous five seasons before the organization promoted him to a more wide-ranging role alongside GM Pierre Dorion.
Mann has been the principal talent evaluator and most considerable organizational influence in the team’s past six draft classes. While they’ve yielded some gems, such as a trio of top-five picks in Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, and Jake Sanderson, a fair amount of Ottawa’s other recent selections in recent years have come under intense scrutiny, perhaps none more than the decision to select forward Tyler Boucher with the tenth overall pick in 2021. It was viewed as quite a reach at the time, and it hasn’t looked great post-draft either – the 20-year-old has bounced around the college and junior ranks and failed to produce at a rate consistent with a top-ten forward selection.
Dorion release a notably short statement on Mann’s departure, simply saying, “We’re thankful for Trent’s contributions to the Senators and wish him the best going forward.”
His son, Matteo Mann, was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the seventh round of this year’s draft. His departure leaves Ottawa with just one assistant GM – Ryan Bowness, whose chief role is serving as the general manager of their AHL affiliate in Belleville.