The future of Strauss Mann
Written by Fred Arshoff
Edited by Marlene Wall
First of all I would like to thank Marlene Wall very much for editing my articles as Judy Pitcher takes some time off for personal reasons.
I decided to write this article as Strauss Mann decided to write this article as Strauss Mann has been bouncing back and forth between the Laval Rockets and the Trois-Rivières Lions and I would like to give my thoughts on what I feel this means .
I’ll start at the beginning so everyone will be up to speed on Strauss Mann as I’m sure very little is known about him
Mann was born August 18,1998 in Greenwich , Connecticut USA. He is 6ft tall (183cm) and weighs 174lbs (79kg) , he is a goaler who catches left . He is an undrafted player and had signed an ELC (entry level contract) at the age of 24 with the San Jose Sharks on April 19th, 2022 , that contract was for one year. He hasn’t played any NHL games .
Between the 2018-19 and the 2020-21 seasons , he played for the Univerity of Michigan in the NCAA. In the 2021-22 he played for the Skellefteò AIK of the SHL. That season he also played 4 games in the WJ for Team USA as well as other championship games.
In the 2022-23, he played 20 games for the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL and 13 games with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL.
For the signed Mann and he played 15 games for the Laval Rocket and 11 games for the Trois-Rivières Lions of the ECHL. Both times in the AHL level, his numbers weren’t good. When playing earlier at the Univerity of Michigan in the NCAA, his numbers were much better If Mann had good numbers at one AHL team and not the other , I would say the player development didn’t work for him, but if in both some of it is on him.
When the Laval Rockets signed Kasimir Kaskisuo to a PTO (professional tryout contract) on Monday December 18th, 2023 , several weeks later Mann was assigned to the Trois-Rivières Lions of the ECHL and since then has been bouncing back and forth between the two teams. When called back up to the Laval Rocket, he never got to play another game. For more information on the Kasimir Kaskisuo to a PTO, please see my article at https://montrealsportsblog.wordpress.com/2023/11/26/laval-rocket-sign-kasimir-kaskisuo-to-a-pto
Personally I don’t see the Laval Rockets extending Mann for the next season.
Jakub Dobes is playing well and is under contract for the 2024-25 season, this is a 2-way contract so the HABS can call up if need be . They also signed Kasimir Kaskisuo to a one-year Laval Rocket contract. I don’t see the Rocket wishing to carry 3 goalers and Kent Hughes saw first hand what happened this 2023-24 season when the HABS kept 3 goalers .
Lastly Mann’s numbers don’t help his cause to play in the AHL. There is no salary disclosed for Kasimir Kaskisuo and Strauss Mann as they are minor league contracts and with those contracts, salary is never disclosed just the players stats on Cap Friendly. Also in the AHL there is no salary cap thus the teams never disclose how much each player gets, thus the pay is between the player and the team.
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