With a new collective bargaining agreement in place and the free agency period looming just around the corner, the Toronto Rock will have some important roster decisions to make long before the season is set to begin.
Under the terms of the new agreement, players now become free agents at age 30 as opposed to 32. Additionally, roster sizes have been reduced from 23 to 20, furthering the fierce roster spot competition in the already extremely talented league.
The Toronto Rock’s free agent list currently consists of just two players, Kasey Biernes and Scott Evans, both unrestricted free agents.
Veteran Rock member Biernes is a staple in the Toronto offensive unit as well as a native of the surrounding area and is highly unlikely to venture elsewhere. Biernes last season performance, his 12th of his NLL career, saw the righty net his highest point totals since 2006 with 54. In the rare event that Biernes heads elsewhere, heading up the QEW to rejoin former coach Troy Cordingley in Buffalo could pose a good fit.
During his first season with Rock, Evans posted 22 points in 11 games played, while posting two goals and one assist in the team’s playoff loss to Minnesota. After being released from Edmonton during last off-season, there was wide speculation as to where the Peterborough native would wind up. Though there is less speculation this time around due to the fact that Evans is aware of his limbo status, the future for the talented but troubled right hander is still up in the air. A possible location for Evans could be in Minnesota with his Peterborough Lakers coaches Joe Sullivan and Bob Keast. Evans has put forth some of his more outstanding performances with this staff during the MSL season and his abilities could be useful as a role player with the Swarm’s youthful offensive unit.
NLL teams are permitted to negotiate with Rostered Restricted Free Agents (RFA’s) and Rostered Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA’s) October 30.
Check back with In Lacrosse We Trust for all you latest NLL updates.
