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How will the Ducks trading defenseman Josh Manson impact the mad rush ahead of the deadline? Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Daily Faceoff Show: How the Josh Manson deal impacts Ducks, trade market

Originally posted on Daily Faceoff | By Scott Maxwell | Last updated 3/15/22

The Anaheim Ducks are in seller mode in the wake of Monday’s Josh Manson trade. The team appears to be far apart in contract negotiations with pending unrestricted free agents Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell, so Manson is likely not the only big name they move at this year’s trade deadline.

But how do the Ducks players feel about the state of the team going into the deadline? How does it impact the defenseman trade market? Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna discuss that on today’s Daily Faceoff Show.

Mike McKenna: "The Ducks players have taken a couple of body blows here lately. The team hasn’t been very good, they haven’t gotten saves in net, they have been really loose defensively, and they’re just not where they need to be. So I don’t think this is a big surprise within that locker room. I’m sure there’s some disappointment to see Josh Manson moved out, who by all means was a big part of that leadership group in that team, but it’s a sign of things that are coming. Pat Verbeek is going to remake this team in his mold, I have no doubt about that.

"I don’t see any path forward for Rakell. He’s been a good performer, but he’s also missed time with injury. He’s going to be 29 years old. I think the writing’s been on the wall that he’s going to be out the door, in my eyes at least.

"Lindholm’s the interesting one, though, because if you talk to any Ducks player, they’re going to want to keep that player in your locker room. This is a guy who can perform, he’s a top-pairing defenseman in the league. But, he’s 28. He would get a first-rounder for sure. How much can that impact the team in the near future? That’s the part that’s going to be tough to take here. The feeling in that room is that, “We’re right on the cusp, we should be there next year.” That might be hard right now, with some of the assets that they’re going to be stockpiling.

"So if anything, it might delay things a little. I’m interested to see how it plays, because Verbeek’s doing his best to reload here on the fly, but what pieces are going to remain? Not many.

Frank Seravalli: "It’s going to be tough to reload on the fly even if you want to, taking off two top-four defensemen from your lineup in Manson and potentially Lindholm. Those guys don’t grow on trees. Maybe you can package some of the assets you get and go after one of those players. There was talk in the last couple weeks about the Ducks being one of those teams that could potentially be interested in Jakob Chychrun, who by the way is out with an injury for the next few weeks. How does that impact his trade status?

"There’s a lot to unpack here for the Ducks, and none of it is really good news in the short term because there’s a lot of work to replace those types of impact players in their lineup.

"So, the other part of the equation here, with regards to this transaction that went down on Monday with Josh Manson: everyone wants to know, how does that impact the defensive market in terms of rentals? And I can tell you that, just looking at it, I don’t know if it makes any impact at all.

"Were teams going to sit there and say 'That’s great value for Josh Manson, we can potentially get a little more?' or were some teams out there disappointed, saying 'We might not be able to get as much as we were expecting'?

"I think it’s a neutral answer. The truth is, Josh Manson was probably always trending towards a second-round pick. If you look at his play over the last few years, it’s really fallen off since his concussions, since his shoulder injuries. He just hasn’t quite been the same player. He certainly hasn’t played at the same level he was at a few years ago. We were talking teams salivating previously, first-round pick for Josh Manson all day long.

"The thing is, now they end up with essentially two seconds because Helleson was a second-round pick. As Chris Peters mentioned in our reporting and analysis on DailyFaceoff.com, he’s trending towards being a full-time NHL player when it comes to maybe an additional season from now for Drew Helleson.

"But when you look at the rest of the defensive market, aside from Lindholm, who really gets you excited in terms of potentially adding these players to your team?"

Mike McKenna: "Well, I think it’s a foregone conclusion that Ben Chiarot’s going to draw a first-round pick. I think at this point Mark Giordano is probably in that range as well. I think that teams are eventually going to get towards the trade deadline and they’re going to get desperate, because somebody is going to lose out on Chiarot, and potentially multiple teams, and who do you replace that with?

"Lindholm, to me, he’s the star of the show right now. I mean, you get offensive production, and you get somebody who can play a lot of minutes, but this is about fit a lot of times. Josh Manson was the right fit for the Colorado Avalanche. He can play a five or six role with them, and not log as many minutes as he had to in Anaheim, he played more shutdown. I think it fits him very well, and that’s why for the Avalanche it made sense to make that play, but he wasn’t a first-round pick for a trade. I never had him in that upper tier that, say, John Klingberg was in. Well, he’s off the board now.

"You’re starting to see a really condensed seller’s market when it comes to quality defensemen. And that’s where I think Chiarot, first, Giordano, probably going to get to that stage as well, but I don’t think we’re going to see as many first-round picks move as maybe it was anticipated leading into the deadline even three, four, five weeks ago.

Frank Seravalli: "The interesting average over the last five years is five first-round picks have been moved in the typical deadline period.

"I don’t know that Mark Giordano from the Seattle Kraken is going to get a first. The Kraken are looking for one. I think he’s probably trending closer to the second-round pick. Lindholm all day long. I wonder if the Montreal Canadiens with Ben Chiarot have maybe overcooked this a little, in that they’re hoping for the David Savard return, a first and a third. I don’t think they’re necessarily going to get that. That’s what they’ve been asking for, and if somebody was willing to deliver it, they would’ve already stepped up and paid it.

"I don’t know, I think you’re right. And the other part you mentioned, right fit. How about Manson, right shot? There aren’t many right-shot defensemen available, and a lot of those defensemen on the list that we just looked at? Lefties. So, you’re looking at Colin Miller from the Buffalo Sabres as another one of those righties further down the list. There’s not a ton of right-shot defensemen that are available, so that’s certainly something to keep an eye on as well, as teams are looking for that right fit.”

You can watch the full episode here…