Going into the 2014 NLL Draft, the Calgary Roughnecks had three picks in the first two rounds and appeared to be positioned to add more blue-chip youth to their roster.
Instead, they traded their two first-round picks as well as their two third-round picks to the New England Black Wolves in exchange for a first-round pick next year and a third rounder in 2016.
“We entered the draft without a lot of holes to fill this season. We like our team chemistry and the depth we have gained from our previous drafts,” explained Calgary general manager Mike Board, via the Roughnecks’ website.
As a result, Calgary didn’t select a player until the second round—the 16th pick overall—when they chose Tyson Roe, from Duncan, BC. The defenseman is a massive 6’10” and 250 lbs, adding a bunch of size and youthful energy to a back end that got bigger before the draft when the Roughnecks acquired Jeff Moleski.
If Calgary was worried that their defense wasn’t big enough or physical enough after last season, they shouldn’t have such concerns in 2015.
The Riggers only made three other selections the rest of the way, all products of the Calgary lacrosse scene. Forward Pat Henry (fourth round), who led the RMLL in goals with 34 last year, forward Cam Gardner (fifth round), who picked up 25 points with Bellarmine University last year and defenseman Andrew Smistad (sixth round), who missed the 2014 season due to injury but was named the team captain for Marquette prior to the injury, were the local boys chosen by the ‘Necks to compete for roster spots in training camp.
In the end, Board wasn’t wrong—Calgary has been at the top of the standings for several years now and came within five minutes of winning the Champion’s Cup last year. While adding a little more strength and size to the defense might make them even tougher, almost the entire team is currently in their statistical primes, the offense is without peer in the NLL and Mike Poulin is the only guy to win the league’s Goaltender of the Year in the last five years not named Matt Vinc.
Hard to improve on that formula.
