The Minnesota Swarm are heading into training camp as one of the few teams that don’t have too many questions to answer come the season. The Swarm were able to Draft a number of young guns who will be high scorers and stalwart defenders. The only perceivable question marks are between the pipes and how well Captain Andrew Suitor can come back and lead the squad, after he destroyed his knee in the middle of last season.
With the uncertainty of Tyler Carlson’s abilities as a starter, the Swarm essentially have an open starting job going into camp. The Swarm did trade away Evan Kirk, the only other goalie that played any amount of time last season, to the Philadelphia Wings. This looked to be more of a move to boost Carlson’s confidence. This could also mean the Swarm want to give either Zach Higgins, or Ryan Masters a real look this season. Both are young guys that have had success in Canada.
Higgins played college ball at Davenport University the year that the Panthers upset St. Thomas in the finals, this was 2011. Higgins split time with Alexis Bourque that season, but was the second half goalie during the latter half of the season. Most likely the number two at the moment, behind Carlson, he could easily steal the starting job with a good camp and Carlson not showing some improvement.
Masters, a Peterborough, ON native, was slotted on the Swarm’s practice squad last season. Although only on the practice squad, the now second year player, may be one of the biggest dark horses going into camp. A former Peterborough Laker Masters is no stranger to winning ways. In the opinion of some Masters may have the best chance to steal either the starting job or the backup job. Personally I don’t see him being slotted to the practice squad this season.
The other big concern, and to be honest it isn’t a huge problem, is the fact that the Swarm’s Captain Andrew Suitor is coming off of pretty aggressive knee surgery following a torn ACL. He has stated that he will be more than ready for the upcoming season. The Swarm will need to have their Captain back this season, seeing how they are one of the younger teams this season. They will also need Suitor to step up in the transition game by putting more balls in the net in transition.
I have said this since the end of last season, the Minnesota Swarm are easily the scariest team in the NLL right now. They are young but gaining experience, they have the best transition game in the league, and after the draft have added an even more potent offensive core with adding Logan Schuss among others. St. Paul may want to plan a parade route this coming summer.
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