After getting off to a solid 3-1 record early in the season, the Bandits have seen their season slowly fall apart. Now tied for the worst record in the NLL, the Bandits seem to really be in that rebuild that it looked like they may endure.
The problems with the Bandits have depended on the day. Sometimes the defense looks horrendous, other times it seems that the team just can’t score. Anthony Cosmo hasn’t been spectacular in net, but most of the time he hasn’t been horrendous. So where does the team go from here?
The Bandits are obviously in a transitional position both on offense and defense. With the Scott Self trade it became apparent that this was a team trying to build for the future, and Alex Kedoh Hill should be an excellent acquisition for the years to come. However, the hole at defense may now be too big to overcome. Now without one of their best defenseman, the group remaining has struggled mightily this season.
The offensive unit is an odd mix of young and old players that doesn’t seem to be clicking. John Tavares’s age is finally starting to catch up to him, as he is nowhere near his 41 goal pace he had last season. Shawn Williams has put up solid numbers, especially his 37 assists, but looks rather lost at points and seems to just disappear from the offense. Dhane Smith has been a bright spot, but the rookie can only do so much by himself.
In a rebuilding year, it’s always nice to look to the future, which often means draft picks. Sadly, the Bandits can’t even hope to get the top pick in next year’s draft due to trading their first round pick to Minnesota in the Cosmo trade.
The Bandits are in an interesting position now. As poorly as they’ve looked, it’s still very possible that they can land a spot in the playoffs. On the other side of things if they don’t win some of their last three games they could be the one team on the outside. With no draft pick to look forward to, the Bandits are hoping that they can go as far as possible to avoid giving that high pick to the Swarm. If the Bandits do make the playoffs, they’ve shown this season that they are capable of beating every team in the Eastern Division.
Its hard to tell if all hope is lost in Buffalo, but the picture will become clearer in the next few weeks. By the time the Bandits play at home again to end their season we will likely know whether or not Buffalo’s season will be over. The Bandits roster has potential, but one never knows which Bandits team will show up each and every night.
