The National Lacrosse League will be holding their 2015 draft at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre on Monday, Sept. 28th. This year’s draft class will see another 55 hopefuls hearing their name called and dreams fulfilled of playing professionally in the NLL. With some of the biggest names in lacrosse on the board this year like Lyle Thompson, Randy Staats, Graeme Hossack and Wesley Berg, the 2015 NLL draft will hopefully be looked upon as one of the most pivotal drafts in terms of depth for years to come.
Due to the Bandits currently holding only the 11th, 27th and 36th selections in this year’s draft, the Bandits tried to keep up with the rest of the NLL by aggressively heading into free agency first to help even out the odds.
The Bandits first preemptive strike began with an offer sent to restricted free agent lefty forward Pat Saunders from the New England Black Wolves. Unfortunately for the Bandits, the Black Wolves countered their offer and signed a new deal with the team.
While the Bandits struck out with Saunders, they did manage to land a blockbuster signing in the way of unrestricted free agent lefty forward Daryl Veltman from the Calgary Roughnecks. With the Bandits making serious plays for a lefty forward, it only confirmed our suspicions that NLL legend and Bandits captain John Tavares would retire.
With free agency slowly coming to a close and the NLL draft coming up on Monday, the Bandits will need all the help they can get when they go to try and make their precious three selections count for the 2015 NLL draft.
For a glimpse into where the Bandits may be headed in the 2015 NLL draft, we also need to take a look back at the 2014 Bandits draft selections and see how their last draft class has held up.
When the Buffalo Bandits headed into the 2014 NLL draft, Dietrich and Cordingley selected the best five left-handed prospects they could find at forward and transition to help replenish their deficiency on the left side.
With the 9th overall selection in the 2014 draft the Bandits selected Brandon Goodwin. While Goodwin spent most of the 2015 NLL season on the sidelines due to injury, his spirited play during the summer with the Six Nations Chiefs of the MSL and the Iroquois Nationals is proving that he’ll be a major contender for a starting roster spot. The Bandits next draft selections were the 14th and 18th overall in the second round and they drafted two former Brampton Excelsior teammates in Matthew Bennett and Tyler Ferreira respectively.
While Bennett was able to get two games under his belt for 2015, he left without scoring a single point and spent the rest of the time on the practice roster with Ferreira. Hopefully they’ll be able to have a breakout camp and compete.
For the Bandits fourth selection at 24th, the Bandits selected Jordan Dance from the Jr. A Orangeville Northmen. Dance ended up making the Bandits practice roster and unfortunately stayed there all season.
With the addition of four solid lefty forwards and transition players on the team coming back for 2015, the Bandits should be looking to beef up their defensive game.
During the NLL offseason, the Bandits defense was struck a serious blow with the departure of stay at home defenseman Derek Suddons to the New England Black Wolves. With Suddons gone, the Bandits currently have only four defensemen on the active roster. With the Bandits using defender Steve Priolo more and more to help assist in their offensive game, this leaves only Billy Dee Smith, Jamie Batson and Matt Spanger to hold the fort for starting goaltender Anthony Cosmo.
While it’s always nice to see the Bandits use speedy transition players to help out in the defensive aspects, they’re just not physically menacing enough to keep opposing offenses to the outside and the stats have proved this the past two years with Cosmo leading the league (and the record books) for most saves made in a season.
One shining example of how an extremely impressive defense helps win championships should look no further than last year’s Champions Cup winner the Saskatchewan Rush and the stellar play of its defensemen Chris Corbeil and Kyle Rubisch. With their physical presence and their stealthy ability to force an offensive turnover has made the Rush an extremely tough team to defeat over the past five years.
Hopefully the Bandits will be able to select one of the following players like defensemen Mitch De Snoo from the Oakville Rock or Riley Quinlan from the Peterborough Lakers/Ennismore James Gang in an attempt to finally give Cosmo a rest and less high quality shots to save.
