On Wednesday, Buffalo Bandits General Manager Steve Dietrich announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Derek Suddons on a two-year contract.
During the off season, negotiations between Suddons and the Bandits over a new contract had reached a stand-still. Dietrich discussed Suddons’ contract status on the opening day of training camp: “As of now we have decided to move away from Derek Suddons. We made an offer, something we thought was fair, but he’s happy with his offer, or where he wants to be, so we’ve probably parted ways with him.”
The Bandits responded to the stalled negotiations by trying to acquire RFA defenseman Ryan Dilks from the Edmonton Rush, however, they responded by matching the Bandits’ offer, causing the deal to fall through.
Suddons is entering his 13th National Lacrosse league season and second with the Bandits. The Whitby, Ontario native recorded two points (1+1), 33 loose balls and four penalty minutes in 15 games last year with the Bandits. Over a span of 186 career games in the NLL between Buffalo, Edmonton, Toronto and Columbus, Suddons has registered 79 points (17+62) and 634 loose balls.
