After signing two players to seven year contracts earlier this fall, the Rochester Knighthawks have added one more to the list of players who will be around until 2020: Craig Point.
Point, a forward out of Ohsweken, Ontario, has been playing in the NLL since 2008. He has also played for Onondaga Community College, leading them to a perfect season (18-0), the Iroquois Nationals, the Six Nations Arrows Junior “A”, the Hamilton Nationals, and the Six Nations Chiefs. He has a variety of championships and awards under his belt from playing with those other teams.
Point started his NLL career with Minnesota and then signed a four year contract with the Knighthawks in 2009. He proved to be a force on the field during his first two seasons with the Knighthawks where he averaged over two points per game. He also proved his ability to win face-offs in 2010 where he won a team-high of 107.
In 2012, he was placed on the injured reserve list for about a month. That season, in 7 games, he recorded 24 points. Throughout His NLL career, Point has never averaged less than 2 points per game, which makes him a consistent player for the Knighthawks so it is not really a surprise that they locked him up long-term.
In general, it is a great idea for the Knighthawks to continue to sign long-term deals with their players because it is important that they keep their roster as similar as it has been the past few years as possible. They have age and speed on their side right now. The players have formed a bond with each other and they have gotten to know how to work well together which has been the key to the Knighthawks success.
Many of the players on the Knighthawks roster have been playing together since before their NLL debuts so they already know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and can work around it. Changing that too much would throw off the dynamic of the team.
If a team is continuously changing their roster, it has the potential to hinder their success. A team is likely to have more success if they make bigger changes less frequently and give the players time to grow together rather than if they make smaller changes more often.
Craig Point is a key to the Knighthawks simply because he is a dedicated and stable player. He joins Sid Smith, Dan Dawson, and Cody Jamieson on the list of players who have contracts with the Knighthawks until 2020.
Last season, Point played in ten games for the Knighthawks. He was a key player to the team making it into the post season and continued to be a key player during the playoffs. In the Championship game, he scored a goal and had two assists which led the Knighthawks to their back-to-back championship wins.
Point had to compete against his other teammates to even make it onto the lineup last season so when he played, he had to make the most out of every minute he had on the field.
Long-term deals with players in general are beneficial to the team and Craig Point is no acceptation. He has worked hard all summer to keep up his skills and be a player that the rest of his teammates can look up to. His consistency and dedication to the team make a long-term deal with the Knighthawks worth it.
