Sackville’s Matteo Mann takes hockey’s next big step as he prepares for NHL draft
It’s almost certain that Sackville’s Matteo Mann will be one of the 217 young hockey players drafted into the NHL this year, but Mann himself is not counting his chickens before they’re hatched.
18-year-old Mann just finished his third season with Les Sageuenéens in Chicoutimi, part of the Quebec Major Junior League, also known as the Q, one of the big three major junior leagues in the country. And now he’s being written about as an NHL draft prospect for 2023.
CHMA spoke to Mann last week from Ottawa, where he was starting his training in preparation for the NHL Combine, the big draft event that takes place in June.
Now that his season is over, Mann’s attitude is calm and even keeled. “Where I go, or if I go, is kind of out of my hands at this point,” says Mann. “Whatever happens, I’m kind of just waiting for the next steps, really.”
Yanick Jean says it’s almost certain Mann will be drafted this year. The head coach and general manager of Les Saguenéens says Mann is the type of player sought after by the NHL in recent years.
Jean describes Mann as a “big, stay-home defenseman, who is really efficient when he gets physical… He’s a good skater for a big guy, and this is what a lot of the NHL teams are looking for,” says Mann. “NHL teams want bigger guys playing on defense.… Continue