ANAHEIM — When veteran defenseman John Manson returned to the Ducks’ lineup from an injury March 22, it seemed natural to pair him with teenager Jamie Drysdale to serve as mentor, protector, teacher and general guide through the NHL. But then a funny thing happened during their union.

Make no mistake, Manson has helped Drysdale’s adjustment in countless ways, but Drysdale has aided Manson, too.

“It helps me mentally, focusing on little things,” Manson said Friday. “When you’re talking between each shift about the plays, it helps me stay engaged in what’s happening on the ice. At the same time, too, I don’t want to let him down. I want to be there for me in all situations the best I can and help build this promising young player into the player everybody here knows he can be. He’s got a lot of potential.

“I just want to help contribute to that and I don’t want to let him down.”

Manson and Drysdale are different players in almost every aspect of their games. Manson is 29, a veteran of more than 400 games, a bruising force on the blue line. Drysdale turned 19 on April 8, a smooth skater who is just beginning to realize what he’s capable of accomplishing.

Manson was paired with Cam Fowler and Hampus Lindholm to great effect at various times during his career. Drysdale is similar to each of them, but different in many ways, too.

“Jamie is not as big as Cam or Hampus,” Manson said. “He’s more undersized, so he has to use his feet a little bit more to be defensively sound and that’s what’s impressed me about a 19-year-old, who just turned 19, his confidence in his gap and his feet. The way he closes on people.

“He gets that angle and he’s (taking) one step and he covers a lot of ice with that one hip-open step. You watch him skate, he does it all over the ice. With the puck, without the puck. That’s the thing I’ve noticed, how quickly he can cover space with one, quick hip-open stride.

“That’s why he covers so much space. He is floating. He’s so light on his feet, he’s explosive. He covers the ice so well. He stays on top of it. It’s what makes good skaters good skaters, the way they’re able to stay on top of the ice when they skate.”

Conversations on the bench tend to be short and direct and then Drysdale applies whatever advice Manson has offered during the next shift. There’s plenty of back-and-forth while they’re waiting to take their next shift, according to Manson.

“I don’t think there’s one piece that’s more valuable for him because he’s such a smart player as it is,” Manson said. “He’s like a sponge right now. He just soaks everything in. The best thing is you tell him one thing and he goes on the ice and he’ll do it. He’ll take that information and apply it to his game in that game. If there’s something in the ‘D-zone’, a read, a play another team might run off a faceoff, whose guy, whose responsibility, little things like that.”

MINOR REPORT

Trevor Zegras scored a goal in the San Diego Gulls’ 2-1 overtime victory Thursday over the Ontario Reign. He has four goals and three assists in five games since the Ducks sent him back to their AHL team. Overall, he has eight goals and eight assists in 13 games with the Gulls.

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