Welcome to some very unprecedented times in the NLL’s history. My name is Dan Dudziak. I have awakened from my postseason slumber, and I will be your tour guide.
The league is in arguably the best position it’s ever been, and is gaining popularity at an insane rate. Well, in most areas. We learned recently that Panther City Lacrosse Club was in the danger zone and was facing a possible fold or relocation. With free agency set to open up September 2nd, the NLL also announced that PCLC would fold and there would be a Dispersal Draft to take place on September 2nd, just an hour before free agency opened up. The order of that draft would be reverse standings from how they finished last year, giving Colorado the first pick and Buffalo the last, you get it. Before we get to who took who, let’s cover the draft day trades that took place.
- The Georgia Swarm traded the 10th selection to the Calgary Roughnecks in exchange for Seth Van Schepen.
- The Albany FireWolves traded the 13th selection to the Ottawa Black Bears in exchange for Will Johnston.
- The Buffalo Bandits traded the 14th selection to the Philadelphia Wings in exchange for Philadelphia’s second round selection in the 2025 NLL Entry Draft (which they subsequently used to draft defender Trent Robertson).
Now to the draft results:
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Colorado Mammoth – Will Malcom (F)
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Las Vegas Desert Dogs – Jonathan Donville (F)
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Philadelphia Wings – Nick Damude (G)
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Vancouver Warriors – Ryan Sheridan (F)
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Calgary Roughnecks – Mathieu Gautier (F)
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Saskatchewan Rush – Matt Hossack (D)
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Ottawa Black Bears – Phil Caputo (F)
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Rochester Knighthawks – Josh Medeiros (D)
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Halifax Thunderbirds – Jason Knox (F)
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Calgary Roughnecks – Cam MacLeod (G)
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San Diego Seals – Justin Sykes (T)
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Toronto Rock – Elijah Gash (D)
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Ottawa – Liam Patten (D)
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Philadelphia – Anthony Malcom (T)
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Colorado – Brent Mitchell (D)
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Las Vegas – Dylan Hutchison (D)
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Philadelphia – Connor Sellars (D)
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Vancouver – Ronin Pusch (D)
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Calgary – Justin Morgan (F)
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Saskatchewan – Evan Messenger (F)
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Ottawa – Colin Sharkey (T)
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Rochester – Mike Sisselberger (T)
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Halifax – Pat Foley (T)
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Georgia Swarm – Caleb Kueber (F)
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San Diego – Callum Crawford (F)
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Las Vegas – Brandon Goodwin (D)
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Philadelphia – Tim Manning (D)
Got all that? Perfect. Now let’s talk about some winners from this Dispersal Draft. Right from the start, the top three, Malcom, Donville, and Damude will have immediate impacts with their new clubs. Scrolling a bit to Medeiros in the 585, he will bring a slippery transition aspect to an already quick K-Hawk transition. Scrolling to pick 25, the still dangerous Callum Crawford going to San Diego. This scares me even typing it out, let alone an opposing defense trying to stop him and all the other studs on their offense. Good luck and God Bless. Keep in mind, though, that Crawford is an unrestricted free agent, and has already rejected the franchise tag, so he could choose to sign anywhere. Though, with SD also adding Ryan Benesch, Rob Hellyer and Ben Macintosh through free agency, he’d have to really think about giving up the chance to play on such a loaded team.
Not all those who were dispersed stayed with the team that chose them. Caputo and Patten were immediately traded from Ottawa to Philadelphia for Zach Higgins,
Personally, if I may, I was a bit surprised it took as long as it did for Crawford, Goodwin and Manning to be chosen. Goodwin and Manning were studs on defense last year for PCLC, and Goodwin specifically, showed that he was very willing and able to take shots and bury his fair share of goals.
Now that the Dispersal Draft has concluded, we set our sights to free agency as there are a lot of big name guys still in the FA pool. Teams will be looking to stock up, and there already has been quite a bit of movement. Stay tuned and start getting your jerseys and popcorn ready, the season will be here before we know it. Until next time.
