Assistant GM Trent Mann is Out: Have the Senators Begun a Housecleaning?

Last week, Ottawa Senators assistant GM Trent Mann was at development camp, helping evaluate NHL hopefuls. As the camp closed on Thursday, he happily posed for photos with some of the young players he helped draft.

According to Bruce Garrioch at Postmedia, the Senators and Mann parted company on Tuesday.

Mann had been with the Sens since 2010 when he was hired as a part-time amateur scout. By 2016, he was 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.

"Trent has shown to be one of the top evaluators of amateur talent in the industry and has progressed to become an invaluable resource to the entire organization," GM Pierre Dorion said in a club statement at the time of Mann's latest promotion.

There's been no word yet on whether Mann resigned or was fired, but it has not been a good year for the Mann family. His brother, Troy Mann was fired back in February as head coach of the Belleville Senators. The club was under .500 at the time but there was also a flurry of curious media reports alluding to trust issues and the sharing of sensitive club information.

It seems like five minutes ago the Manns were regarded as this fantastic hockey development tag team. Trent evaluated and drafted players and then Troy coached 'em up. 

Times are changing.

By the time next season starts, Michael Andlauer is expected to officially take over as owner of the franchise so it probably shouldn't come as a huge surprise to see some of the current staff beginning to head out the door. 

The Mann news comes two days after President of Business Operations Anthony LeBlanc called it a day. Postmedia reported as well that Vice President of Marketing Tom Hoof is also out. He was a LeBlanc guy as the two worked together for the Arizona Coyotes and on attempts to bring the Atlantic Schooners CFL franchise to life out in Halifax.

Last month, the affable Aaron Robinson, the club's Director of Fan and Community Development parted ways with the club for undisclosed reasons. Robinson is a heart and soul guy, who beautifully represented the Sens in the community for 24 years. 

So what's happening? With Mann, it may be related to his brother's awkward dismissal. It's hard to imagine that hasn't led to friction over the past few months. But if Daniel Alfredsson is returning to the franchise, let's be honest, the assistant GM role certainly seems like an ideal position for the popular Hall of Famer.

Andlauer took in development camp on Thursday so he may have let it be known he has his own people in mind for certain roles when the sale is finalized... maybe even sooner than that. Given that current ownership will soon be partners with the new owner, it's safe to say that Andaluer is already being allowed to call at least some of the shots.

The only real question now is this: How deep, exactly, will Andlauer's housecleaning be?

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