The Boston Cannons have had a busy past week, trading away their star player Paul Rabil. We caught up with their general manager Kevin Barney to discuss the moves they have made.
Marisa: How difficult was it to trade Paul Rabil?
Kevin Barney: I traded away the most popular player on our team. That is never an easy decision. There were numerous conversations between Coach Tucker, myself and ownership over the past couple of months before we got to Monday. I expected initial reactions from some fans to be harsh and I understand the reaction. I have to be looking short and long term at all times for our organization. Where we have finished the last three seasons combined with what I saw what we could get in return, its something that I have zero regrets on doing for the good of the Boston Cannons organization.
Marisa: What does Chad Wiedmaier bring to the roster?
KB: Chad is a young veteran. Kind of an oxymoron but exactly what you want in this league. A guy who played for 2-3 years and has played nearly every game. He will be a great addition to our roster and defense.
Marisa: Were these moves in response to losing both Berger and Boyle this off season?
KB: The retirement or Ryan Boyle and Stephen Berger left holes in our starting lineup that we had to fill. These moves weren’t direct reactions to their retirements. Coach Tucker and I had a long term plan for this team from shortly after he took over as head coach. We knew some major changes were coming with guys at the end of their careers. The retirements probably allowed us to really say this is the off season to change things up.
Marisa: You added Ryan Young this off season. Will he be expected to be a leader on offense right away?
KB: We expect Ryan to be a starter and to produce for us right away. Leadership is earned not given. The leader is not always the guy scoring the most goals or creating the highlight plays. We have a lot of potential leaders on this team, guys who have been here and new guys. I’m interested to see who steps up and earns the leadership respect from their teammates.
Marisa: What is the plan with all the draft picks acquired?
KB: To get great players on our team. The picks give us great flexibility in the draft and in trades. We want young talent, but we won’t be afraid to use the picks to acquire MLL proven talent as well. Time will tell.
Marisa: Are the Cannons in a rebuilding mode?
KB: I’m not a fan of that term. Rebuild has the stigma of a multi-year process. Are we going to have a different look to our team this season, yes. Are we done making moves, I don’t think so. What I will say is we will have a team on the field this year that can compete for a championship. Few people are talking about who we got in this trade and only mentioning the draft picks. We added one of the best midfielders in MLL to our team in Max Seibald. We have veteran all-stars, second and third year proven players that want to win now. Ask any one of them if this season is a rebuild and the answer will be no, this season is about winning. The picks nearly set us up for the future to have the ability to add the best players every year.
Marisa: What do you lose in Mike Stone?
KB: Another piece of this trade not being talked much about. Mike is one of the great stories of this league. A DIII player who put in his time and when given the chance turned into an All Star. Mike has been extremely active in our community from not only youth lacrosse events but charitable initiatives as well. I told coach that I wanted to call Mike to inform him of the trade because of our relationship over the past 5 years.
Marisa: How does Max Seibald change the offense?
KB: Probably a better question for Coach Tucker and his staff. What I’ll say is no one on the coaching staff was concerned about having to fit Max Seibald into our offense. We are not looking at Max as not replacing Paul Rabil. The coaching staff will look at the group we have as a whole and develop an offense that utilizes everyone’s skills for the betterment of the team.
