"I don't want to say we've been ready for this, but we kind of knew this was possible and names that have been floating around our team all year," defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said Tuesday. "Now that it's finally happened, I think we're handling it well. I think the main thing is to just stay in touch with the young guys on our team because this is new for them."
With less than a week to go before the deadline on March 21 at 3 p.m. ET, forward Rickard Rakell and defenseman Hampus Lindholm, each a pending unrestricted free agent, appear to be Anaheim's top remaining trade candidates.
General manager Pat Verbeek said he wouldn't rule out re-signing Rakell and Lindholm, each 28, but gave no indication that the Ducks are anywhere close to doing so with either player.
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He said his goal is to improve the Ducks' speed and get younger in the process.
"Things can change in three or four days," Verbeek said. "Pressures are brought to both sides, so we'll see."
Rakell will be out for a second straight game because of an upper-body injury when the Ducks play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, BSSC, BSSD, ESPN+, NHL LIVE). Rakell, who has played his entire 10-season NHL career with Anaheim, has scored 28 points (16 goals, 12 assists) in 51 games. The 16 goals are tied for second on the Ducks with forward Trevor Zegras. Forward Troy Terry leads them with 29 goals.
Lindholm has scored 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 60 games.
Coach Dallas Eakins said he was originally hopeful Rakell could play against the Rangers.
"Let's be clear on that, I have people texting me and calling me, 'Why are we sitting Rickard Rakell?'" Eakins said. "We're not. He's injured right now. He's day to day."
The Ducks (27-25-10) are hopeful of climbing into position to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They entered Tuesday four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference despite going 0-3-1 in their past four games and 4-9-1 since Feb. 11.
"We've got 20 games left and guys coming in and out, it's definitely tough, but I still think we're in a good spot," Zegras said. "I love the way we've been playing these last couple games. I know we haven't been winning, but I think we're right there and hopefully we can get this thing going and get a couple wins down the stretch here."
Eakins said he doesn't expect the Ducks mentality to change despite losing Manson and with potentially more departures to come.
"I equate it in the simplest terms," Eakins said. "When your lineup goes it's basically like you've got 20 guys putting their hands in a pail of water and that water rises up. Josh's hand was in there and now his hand has come out and someone else has to put their hand in there to make that bucket rise back up. We will miss him. We will miss his leadership. But this is necessary for us to build to be that championship-caliber team year after year."
