NHL Scouting Combine family experience for Mann

BUFFALO --Matteo Mann wasn't sure what to expect when he sat on the chair outside the Ottawa Senators suite inside KeyBank Center awaiting his turn to be interviewed by a team he's become all too familiar with over the years during the NHL Scouting Combine presented by adidas this week.

Familiar since Matteo's father, Trent Mann, happens to be Ottawa's assistant general manager and traditionally takes the lead with player interviews at the annual event.

"It was a little weird because he came out, got me and told me to go in and he sat in the chair outside the room," Matteo said. "The roles were reversed, which was pretty funny. The interview was mostly about my game. Some teams joked about it just because it's kind of special that he's here and I'm here with him."

Matteo Mann (6-foot-5, 222 pounds), a defenseman with Chicoutimi of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, is No. 84 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters presented by BioSteel. He interviewed with eight teams during the week before testing on Friday and Saturday at LECOM HarborCenter.

"I haven't had any kind of input on him at all this year ... I've seen him play a couple of times because he's my son but not from a scouting capacity," Trent Mann said. "I let our guys do their thing and they wanted to meet him here and that's fine. They had their meetings and asked him the questions they wanted to ask so they could feel good about wherever they're comfortable picking him and then we'll see where it goes over the next few weeks."

When the 20-minute interview was completed, Matteo left the room but missed his dad, who had gone for a coffee.

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"I stayed there for a while and I guess luckily for him we didn't have someone right after for the next interview so I was sitting there and, after 20 minutes, thought I would grab a coffee," Trent said. "By the time I got back, Matteo had left so I was knocking on the door to get back into the meeting to see if everything was OK.

"It went well for him, and I think it was a good experience."

Matteo has come full circle in the draft process; he also served as a runner helping to deliver information to the scouts at the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo.

"I remember being down on the streets because the prospects were all around, so I got to meet Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi," Matteo said. "I have a hat at home from the draft that they all signed and so did a lot of other guys that played before in the NHL like Joe Nieuwendyk. I remember having a lot of blisters on my feet since it was the first time I wore dress shoes so I was going up and down steps, trying to get everything all the scouts needed.

"It was really cool being down on the floor, seeing how everything happened. At that point, it was still my dream to be there as a player, so to kind of see it, was just an extra special moment."

Trent Mann said several members of his staff have known his son since that 2016 draft.

"Some of our scouts saw him maybe five or six years ago when he was a runner in Buffalo," he said. "Now, he's 18, a grown man, and I think it's kind of cool for them as a staff to see him now."

Mann had five assists in 45 games as a defensive defenseman with Chicoutimi this season.

"I mean with his size and frame and the way that he skates, I think he can become a solid defender at the NHL level," Jean-Francois Damphousse of NHL Central Scouting said. "He's the type of player that can shut down the opposition, play some penalty kill and play a physical game. There's been some ups and downs, which every prospect goes through, but if you look at the upside, the 6-foot-5 frame and the agility on skates, I really think he's got a chance to be a really good defender at the next level."

Matteo said he'll never forget his combine experience, particularly since he had an opportunity to spend it with his dad.

"Being here with my dad, it's been nice," he said. "We go for a walk every day … talk about our day. I think I'm really fortunate to be able to have that kind of scenario because it is pretty special and it's fun that it's getting close to kind of that that moment I've been waiting for a long time."

Photo credit: Mann family