The Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced a monumental trade today involving two teams, multiple players and future draft picks.
New York and Boston have executed a trade that will see midfielders Paul Rabil and Mike Stone go to New York in exchange for midfielder Max Seibald, defenseman Brian Karalunas, and the following college draft picks; 2016 1st round pick; 2016 2nd round pick; and 2017 1st round pick. In conjunction with the trade with NY, the Cannons have sent Karalunas and the 7th round pick in the 2015 MLL College Draft to Ohio in exchange for defenseman Chad Wiedmaier and another 1st round pick, the 5th overall pick in the 2015 MLL College Draft.
In what will go down as one of the biggest trade in MLL history, Cannons GM and Vice President, Kevin Barney weighs in on the trade decision stating, “For the past three seasons we have failed at our goal of winning the MLL Championship. Today, we made a trade that put the best short and long term interest of the team into focus. We acquired two players that can have an immediate impact come opening day in April, and top draft picks that will allow us to add the best college players to our team over the next three seasons.”
“We are gaining an incredible foothold for the future of the Boston Cannons franchise,” said Cannons Head Coach John Tucker. “The players we received will become immediate impact players and we will look for them to add athleticism and veteran leadership within our young team.”
The Cannons now have four of the top 19 picks (numbers 4, 5, 12 and 19) in this year’s college draft, which takes place on January 23rd in Baltimore, MD. In the 2016 draft, Boston currently has two 1st Round picks and two 2nd Round picks. For 2017, the Cannons currently have two 1st Round picks.
“The draft picks we received in this deal sets up our organization for years to come,” added Barney. “We currently have four top picks in this year’s draft and for the next two seasons we will have two extremely valuable first round picks. We now have the flexibility to choose two of the top collegiate players each season or the assets to make a trade for a proven impact player.”
“These are exciting times ahead for the Cannons,” said Tucker. “The team we are putting together will be young, fast and aggressive.”
“I want to thank both Paul Rabil and Mike Stone for their dedication to our team and most importantly to our fan base over the past 7 years,” commented Barney on his departing players. “Both players were part of our 2011 Championship Team that will always be a part of this team’s history. I wish them both the best moving forward.”
“Both Paul and Mike are outstanding players and people and we will miss them dearly,” added Tucker.
