After being bounced out of the opening round of the 2015 NLL playoffs by the Rochester Knighthawks and the retirement of Bandits captain John Tavares, Buffalo Bandits General Manager Steve Dietrich and head coach Troy Cordingley headed into the 2015 NLL Draft searching for that certain missing ingredient to their success. After the draft was over, it was pretty clear that the messing ingredients that Dietrich and Cordingley believed to be missing were right-handed scorers and some size out the back door to help starting goaltender Anthony Cosmo.
With the incredible depth that the 2015 NLL draft had to offer and seeing teams like the Georgia Swarm finding gold with forward Lyle Thompson, the Buffalo Bandits had to wait until the second round to finally be able to make their move toward a brighter future. With their 11th overall selection the Bandits selected righty-forward Anthony Malcolm from the Langley Thunder of the WLA and Mars Hill University.
Explaining why the Bandits selected Malcolm 11th overall, General Manager Steve Dietrich said that “We were offered deals to move down. We didn’t take them because we wanted Anthony Malcolm. He was highly scouted by Bandits assistant coach/scout Rob Buchan.”
Malcolm’s Mars Hill profile lists him as a 6’1 190lbs midfielder and hailing from New Westminster B.C. For his 2015 season, Malcolm recorded 35 goals, 30 assists and 71 ground balls averaging 2.19 goals per game, 1.88 assists per game and 4.06 points average per game. During his career with Mars Hill, Malcolm recorded 81 goals, 83 assists and 201 ground balls while being awarded the honors of being selected as the 2015 SAC Player of the year and first team All-SAC in 2014 and 2015.
In his rookie WLA season with the Thunder, Malcolm recorded 26 goals and 49 points.
With the 27th overall selection in the third round, the Bandits selected righty forward/transition player Mike Triolo from the Brooklin Redmen of the MSL and Pfeiffer University. Dietrich and Cordingley selected Triolo with the belief that “He seems destined to play out our back door. You can’t teach size.”
Triolo’s profile from Pfeiffer lists him as 6’7” 225lbs and hailing from Toronto, Ontario. This past season with the Redmen, Triolo proved to the coaching staff time in and out his value for being versatile. Triolo has what it takes to play offense, defense, faceoffs and pushing the ball up the floor. His size and speed will be a great asset to the Bandits defense with Billy Dee Smith and Steve Priolo in keeping the high quality scorers to the outside.
In three years with the Pfeiffer University Falcons, Triolo recorded 43 goals, 37 assists for 80 points in 45 games while proving his versatility with 177 loose balls, 91 forced turnovers and 11 face offs won. Triolo was also named First Team All-Conference three years in a row.
For the Bandits third selection of the evening at 36th overall, the Bandits selected midfielder Tim Edwards from Canisius College. Dietrich and Cordingley were impressed with Edwards’ play at the NLL Combine and got a seal of approval from Canisius head coach Randy Mearns.
Edwards’ Canisius profile has him listed as 6’2” 194lbs hailing from Jamesville, NY. Hopefully Edwards will be able to be the effective utility player that the Bandits need him to be.
For his college career with the Golden Griffins, Edwards ranked eighth in school history with 145 points, fourth with 80 assists and third with .558 faceoff percentage while earning the honors of 2012 MAAC Rookie of the Year, led his school to their second NCAA tournament appearance in school history and earning All-MAAC honors in each of his four seasons.
Looking like their night was through after selecting Edwards, the Bandits decided to go for broke by trading their sixth round selection in 2016 with the Saskatchewan Rush for their 55th overall selection in the 2015 NLL draft. The Bandits ended up going for more defensive size and strength by selecting defenseman Matthew Clearwater Francisco from the Mimico Jr.A Mountaineers.
Dietrich selected Clearwater Francisco after having a successful combine and impressing Bandits assistant coach/scout Steve Toll.
Clearwater Francisco’s Mimico profile has him listed at 5’10” 165lbs and in his 2015 season with the Mountaineers, he recorded three goals with seven assists in 14 games.
Clearwater Francisco’s Mimico profile has him listed at 5’10” 165lbs and in his 2015 season with the Mountaineers, he recorded three goals with seven assists in 14 games. His junior career numbers overall are 15 goals, 28 assists for 43 points in 79 games played over five seasons.
Overall, the Bandits did the best they could with the minimal draft selections that they had. With the loss of Tavares to the offense, here’s hoping that Malcolm and Edwards will be able to make a statement during training camp and be able to help support the offense. With Suddons gone and lack of stay at home defenders, Triolo and Clearwater Francisco will definitely bring some much needed size and strength to help Cosmo. Hopefully the 2015 NLL draft’s reputation for depth will remain once this rookie class finishes their season.
