This off season we plan on going one on one with every general manager in the National Lacrosse League to discuss the latest news. We spoke with Derek Keenan of the Edmonton Rush this week. Below are notes on four main areas of preseason talk with NLL teams.
Free Agency: They are both important [John Lafontaine and Adrian Sorichetti] young players to our team. Both just 24 and although experienced I believe still have lots of upside to their games. Both good athletes who compete.
Draft: We always look to improve and I think we need more size and grit on the right side of our offense. After that, with 20-man rosters we are probably looking for depth on the backend or in goal. Noble. McIntosh. Miles Thompson. McLaughlin. Cockerton. All excellent candidates for our top pick.
Preseason Battles: It’ll be great getting Corey [Small] back. He adds another weapon to what I think is already a pretty good offense. Corey has bounced back really strong from his ACL injury. He played with more confidence than ever this summer. He’s a guy who has improved every year in the NLL and although missing last year I don’t see that changing.
That defense group is still young. I sure do not see them regressing. Our coaching staff is always looking at ways to get better.
I would like to get Tyler [Carlson] some time in the net. Last year we had full intentions of playing MacDonald more but our D and Bold was going so well it made it tough to get him. But we will certainly look to get Tyler some starts this year. He’s an experienced guy.
