The MLL 2015 Supplemental Draft took place on December 17, so how did the Outlaws do in their picks? I spoke with Outlaws GM Tony Seaman about the draft and here’s what he had to say about their trades and draft picks.
“To be successful in the MLL it is important to have depth in your roster, and we feel very strongly that the addition of Dillon Ward gives us two of the very best goalies in the league. Dillon had a great run in the World Games this past summer and was a key factor in Canada winning the World Championship. His move to Denver makes a great deal of sense for us to have him on our roster. Charlie Cipriano is as good a goalie as you can find in the league and it made a lot of sense for him to move on to the Florida Launch for 2015 as he now lives in Boca Raton, FL. We wish him the very best of luck and thank him for three great years with the Outlaws.”
So what about the draft picks? Due to the fact that you have multiple players who will be playing into the start of the MLL season which begins on April 17, specifically: John Grant Jr.; Eric Law; Chris O’Dougherty; Cam Holding; Dillon Ward; Geoff Snider; and Zach Greer. Jeremy Noble has chosen not to play for Rochester, but that doesn’t mean he’s chosen not to play in the NLL, so there may be another player who will miss the beginning of the season.
Tony said:
“We are very happy with our Supplemental Draft picks. With a number of our priority players involved in the NLL it leaves us with some open spots until the NLL season concludes. We believe we filled those voids by selecting a number of players that can play in this league. Buggs Combs has a wealth of experience in this league and has always been a guy who can finish the ball. We believe he fit in with Eric Law and Chris Bocklet on our attack. With Lee Zink retiring we lose one of the very best defensemen to ever play in the MLL, so it is important for us to find his replacement. Dillon Roy developed over the past two years into being the guy who will draw the best attackmen from each team and he certainly proved to be up to that task in the Championship game last August. We need some depth at close defense and selected a number of defensemen who will challenge to make our 2015 roster. With Ward playing in the NLL we need a back up for Schwartzman in the beginning of the season and are very confident in Johnny Rodriguez or Brian Feeney being able to step up to that challenge. We put a lot of hours in as a staff going over the possibilities available in the Supplemental Draft and our final selections hopefully will prove out to be the right picks as we move into the 2015 season.”
Here’s the draft picks for the Outlaws from the Supplemental Draft. During the pre-season, each team will be allowed 40 players on the roster.
Pick Player Position
8th Tim Henderson Defense
16th Buggs Combs Attack
24th Patrick Harbeson Midfield
26th Johnny Rodriguez Goalie
27th Matt Harris Defense/LSM
32nd Ethan Vedder Midfield
40th Jeff Froccaro Attack
48th Luke Cometti Midfield
56th Matt Callahan Defense
64th Greg Downing Midfield
72nd Corey Elmer Attack
80th Brian Feeney Goalie
88th Aaron Prosser Midfield
96th Ryan Licht Defense
With the amount of talent on the protected roster who now include: Attack—Chris Bocklet, John Grant Jr., and Eric Law; Midfield—Jeremy Sieverts, Drew Snider, Justin Pennington, Colin Dunster, Jeremy Noble, Cam Holding, Cameron Flint, Dom Sebastiani, Noah Molnar, Terry Kimener, and Zack Greer; Defense—Matt Bocklet, Dillon Roy, Mike Simon, Chris O’Dougherty, and Ken Clausen; Faceoff—Anthony Kelly; and Goalie—Jesse Schwartzman, the Outlaws have certainly locked in a spectacular roster.
The hard part will be who will make the cut once the NLL season ends.
In 2014, I gave the Outlaws the grade of “A” in their choices and Head Coach B.J. O’Hara and General Manager Tony Seaman were right on in their choices with a squad who went on to win the MLL Championship for the first time in the franchise’s nine year history. Will we see another repeat of that in 2015? It’s hard to say, but I see an extremely successful year for the Denver Outlaws.
For 2015, I’m going with another “A” Grade for their draft picks and key trades in the off-season.
As always, on behalf of myself and In Lacrosse We Trust, I would like to thank Tony for taking the time to discuss their draft choices and what he sees for the upcoming 2015 Denver Outlaws season.
