Mann and the Senators "parted ways" in the off-season, not long after his brother Troy was removed as head coach in Belleville.
As the Senators face Pittsburgh in Halifax on Monday night, three-time Norris trophy winner Erik Karlsson might not be the only familiar face over on the Penguins side of things.
Former Senators assistant GM Trent Mann was hired by Pittsburgh over the weekend as player development and scouting advisor.
Mann and the Senators "parted ways" in the off-season and while no specific reason was given for the move, it's believed things may have gotten a little awkward in the Sens front office after Mann's brother Troy was fired in Belleville as their AHL head coach last season.
If Mann is in attendance, and he and Sens GM Pierre Dorion try and get a popcorn refill at the same time, things might also get a little awkward Monday night. The Nova Scotia Showdown, as the game is being billed, might actually play out instead among guys in suits up in the press box.
Mann had been with the Sens since 2010 when he was hired as a part-time amateur scout. By 2016, he became the Senators' top amateur scout before being promoted to assistant GM last year. That's when the club parted company with Pierre McGuire and Peter MacTavish, replacing them with Mann and newly hired Ryan Bowness.
It's interesting that Mann was hired in Steeltown a day after Lassi Thomson, one of the club's former first rounders (the two are pictured in the image above at the 2019 NHL draft) was placed on waivers.
Mann held the dual role of assistant GM while continuing to oversee the club's amateur scouting, even running the draft table this past summer. It will be interesting to monitor the next few years to see what his removal in Ottawa and addition in Pittsburgh will do for the fortunes of each club's scouting staff.