Some said that the 2016 draft was a weak one; after the first round and a half, the quality of prospects dropped off. After Monday night’s draft at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre though, it seemed that all teams were happy with the players they picked.
The top three went exactly as expected – Saskatchewan Rush GM Derek Keenan took his son Ryan, a forward, first overall. The Toronto Rock took tranny Challen Rogers second, and the Rush took defenseman Mike Messenger third.
After that, the Georgia Swarm made a surprising number four pick in tranny Bryan Cole. It’s not that Cole’s not good; but fourth was high as he was projected to go later in the first round or even early second. Also, the Rock like to keep their summer and winter players together if possible so it’s likely they were disappointed Cole was taken so early after he had a decent summer in Oakville.
Holden Cattoni, a lefty forward, went fifth overall to the Calgary Roughnecks, as expected. The Roughnecks even posted their own mock draft the other day complete with a photo of Cattoni and had themselves taking him in this position. They’ve been high on him since he was a ballboy for their organization as a kid.
The Rochester Knighthawks selected Josh Currier fifth and Kyle Jackson sixth, righty and lefty forwards respectively. Currier deservedly moved up from projections that had him going later in the first or early second round but a great sophomore season with a powerhouse Peterborough Lakers team showed he can compete with the pros. Jackson jumped up a couple of rounds – he played three games for the Cobourg Kodiaks over the summer and was effective in each one but that’s all the box he’s played in a few years. Rochester is deep at forward but after a disappointing 2016 season the Knighthawks may be looking to shake things up.
The New England Blackwolves took Jr. B standout righty forward Seth Oakes at number eight. Oakes could have gone even earlier as mock drafts were salivating over his late NCAA renunciation.
Zach Herreweyeres, a lefty forward, went ninth to the Colorado Mammoth. Herreweyers hasn’t played box lacrosse since 2015 as he focused on school but he was the 2012 OLA Jr. A rookie of the year after scoring 69 points in 16 games so he knows his way around an arena.
The first round closed out with defenseman Connor Sellars going to the Georgia Swarm. Sellars had a solid rookie campaign with the Brampton Excelsiors this past summer and he’s a big body that can protect the the talented forward core the Swarm have built up.
The second round featured a few players who could have gone higher in the draft like Matt Hossack (14th to Saskatchewan), Vaughn Harris (15th to Calgary), Dan Lomas (16th to Rochester), and Leo Stouros (17th to Georgia).
The biggest jumps of the draft were Latrell Harris at 12 to Toronto and Justin Martin at 13 to the Buffalo Bandits. Harris is a gamble based purely on his age. At 18, he was the youngest player in the draft and hasn’t competed against men yet. Martin played this summer for Burlington Jr. A, getting in to a few games with Oakville but doesn’t have a lot of experience yet.
There were three excellent goaltenders available in the draft and Doug Jamieson and Warren Hill, both from Six Nations, were expected to be first round picks. So it was a surprise when neither were chosen in the first round and an even bigger surprise when Kevin Orleman out of Kitchener-Waterloo was the first goaltender chosen in the draft at the 18 position by Buffalo. Jamieson and Hill quickly followed as all three goalies were snapped up in three consecutive picks. Jamieson went to New England and Georgia drafted Hill.
Also drafted in the second round were James Rahe of the Langley Thunder, 11th overall to Vancouver, his hometown team, and Matt Symes of the Maple Ridge Burrards, 21st to Calgary. Symes really raised his draft stock with an excellent Mann Cup earlier this month.
MLL first overall pick Myles Jones was selected by New England 37th overall. Has Jones ever played box lacrosse? We don’t think so, but his talent level is so off the charts at the field game, it’s not hard to imagine his skills will translate easily to the box game. New England has the best chance of getting him to camp for a tryout.
Drake Smith, brother of Dhane, was picked by the Bandits in the fifth round 47th overall. Drake hasn’t had time to blossom yet like his brother but he’ll be able to develop in a system that already knows his family well.
Jr. B standout Logan Holmes was taken at number 52 by Buffalo. It’s unknown if Holmes can play at a higher level but the Bandits took a chance on a player who scored 145 points in just 20 games this summer with the Windsor Clippers. Why not?
Rylee McKinnon from Whitby Jr. A had the honour of being the last pick in the draft at number 57 to the Rush. McKinnon is also a junior hockey player, scoring 20 points as a defenseman with the Whitby Fury in 15-16. He wasn’t on anybody’s draft radar but playing in the Whitby system Keenan is very familiar with his play.
Trade Summary
There were a few trades throughout the draft but only one notable one.
The Rochester Knighthawks acquired the 16th overall pick (2nd round) from the Buffalo Bandits in exchange for transition player of the year nominee Brad Self. The Knighthawks turned that 16th pick into Dan Lomas.
New England and Georgia each made a pair of trades. The Blackwolves sent the 14th pick in the draft to the Rush for the 19th pick in the draft plus a second round pick in 2017. The Rush picked Matt Hossack with that. Later, the Blackwolves received the 38th selection in the draft from Georgia for a fourth rounder in 2018 and turned that 38th pick into Dan Michel. Georgia also traded the 35th selection to Colorado for a fifth round pick in 2017. Colorado then picked Taylor Stuart with the 35th pick.
For all the picks from 1 through 57, check out our live draft blog here: https://inlacrossewetrust.com/2016-nll-draft-live-blog-rush-on-the-clock/
