With the 2014 Collegiate Draft coming up this Friday January 10, 2014, who will the Outlaws be looking at to add to their squad in 2014? The Outlaws had an amazing team during the 2013 season breaking both MLL & team records. They posted their best season ever in 2013 with an impressive record of 14-0, the first ever undefeated team in MLL history. They set 21 team records and 10 MLL records during the 2013 season. So, how do you go about improving on such a stellar squad?
Denver drafted some great talent in the Supplemental Draft on December 11, 2013. Who did they get? Here’s a recap:
6th Round, Ken Clausen, Defense, Virginia
14th Round, Matt Callahan, Defense, Callahan
22nd Round, Greg Rogowski, Attack, Merrimack
30th Round, Landon Carr, Midfield, Maryland
38th Round, Sean Rogers, Attack, Notre Dame
46th Round, Chase Bailey, Attack, Bucknell
54th Round, Andrew Wascavage, Goalie, Towson
62nd Round, MJ Kiekebelt, Defense, RIT
70th Round, Roger Ferguson, Defense, Brown
78th Round, Ethan Vedder, Defense, Cornell
86th Round, Steve Schoeffel, Midfield, Duke
94th Round, Ben Brown, Goalie, Whittier College
The Outlaws also picked up Ray Lang, a strong midfielder from the Florida Launch in exchange for Goalie Adam Fullerton.
As of January 7, 2014, they currently have 22 players on their protected man roster which includes:
Matt Bocklet, Defense
Chris Bocklet, Attack
Charlie Cipriano, Goalie
Cameron Flint, Attack
Matt Gibson, Attack
John Grant, Jr., Attack
Zack Greer, Attack
Anthony Kelly, Attack/FO
Terry Kimener, Midfield
Roy Lang, Attack
Eric Law, Attack
Chris O’Dougherty, Defense
Justin Pennington, Midfield
Stephen Robarge, Midfield
Dillon Roy, Defense
Jessee Schwartzman, Goalie
Domenic Sebastiani, Midfield
Jeremy Sieverts, Midfield
Michael Simon, Defense
Drew Snider, Midfield
Sam Snow, Midfield
Lee Zink, Defense
When I asked Denver Outlaws GM Tony Seaman shortly after the Supplemental Draft his thoughts on how the Outlaws did, he said, “As far as the Supplemental Draft is concerned we looked at it as a great opportunity to replace the eight NLL players that will not be with us for the first three or four games of the MLL season. These eight players are key members of our team that we need to fill their spots. The Supplemental Draft allows us to pick up players at specific positions that fill in our roster until our NLL players return to our lineup. We go into the Supplemental Draft with a list of the positions and skill elements that are needed to fill those spots. We feel like we did a very good job of meeting our needs for the start of the 2014 season.”
When I asked about the College Draft, he said, “As far as the College Draft is concerned we are looking to bring in the very best lacrosse players available at the time of our selection. We are not as concerned about specific needs as we are in getting the very best lacrosse players available when it is our turn to make the selection. We are aware of some specific needs and address them as well but it is more important to select the best player available.”
Now that the Outlaws have had a chance to look at the young talent available in the 2014 Collegiate Draft, I decided to ask Outlaws GM Tony Seaman to give me an update.
I asked him what positions the Outlaws were looking at in the draft and how many first round picks they have as well as how many other picks. He said, “The Outlaws need to add depth to our close defense position, to our face off area and are always looking for the best possible lacrosse players.
“The Outlaws have one first round pick and one selection in each of the remaining seven rounds.”
My final question to Tony was if there were any players in particular the Outlaws are looking at and if so, what do they feel they can bring to the team? Tony said, “We have evaluated and considered over 148 college seniors and have had a number of staff meetings involving our coaching staff and our administrative staff in determining who we are interested in and how they fit into the Outlaws scheme. At this time we are not discussing individual players but are very willing to do that after the draft.”
For now, we will have to see just who the Outlaws have decided to add to their team. Once the draft is over and the dust has settled, I will follow up with the Outlaws GM to recap their selections and why they drafted those particular players.
