NLL Insider

It’s been a year since the Toronto Rock shocked the indoor lacrosse world by trading superstar Colin Doyle to San Jose. Going to San Jose were Colin Doyle and defenseman Darren Halls and 2007 first round draft pick. Coming back to Toronto were Ryan Benesh, Kevin Fines, Chad Thompson and San Jose’s first round picks in 2008 and 2009. Prior to this season the Toronto Rock moved Kevin Fines and a dispersal draft pick to Chicago for Cam Woods. This is an excellent deal for Toronto but for the sake of my analysis I will not include it as part of the Colin Doyle “returns”-especially since the it was not a one for one trade. At first glance one might think that the Toronto Rock “won” the deal. In 2007 Doyle had 22 goals and 59 assists for 81 points. Hall had 2 goals and 4 assists. In Toronto Ryan Benesch had 33 goals, 25 assists for 58 points. Kevin Fines had 15 goals, 7 assists for 22 points and Chad Thompson had 14 goals, 10 assists for 24 points. In total San Jose’s new players had 24 goals and 89 points, while Toronto’s new players had 62 goals and 104 points. Obviously Toronto wins the deal in a landslide.

Not so fast. In Toronto, the Rock’s offensive numbers increased slightly in 2007 over 2006 however production dropped for Toronto’s top scorers Josh Sanderson and Blaine Manning. In San Jose the offensive improved dramatically from the previous year. The Stealth scored 30 more goals in 2007, and 23 more power play goals. The power play improved from 30% to 44% with Colin Doyle in the lineup. Individually Gary Rosyski went from 43 points in 2006 to 76 in 2007. Jeff Zywicki went from 48 points to 70, and Luke Wiles went from 49 to 82. However the most important stat that you can’t ignore is that Toronto went from 8-8 record with Doyle to 6-10 without him. San Jose went from 5-11 before Doyle to 9-7. San Jose also won a playoff game, knocking off the defending champs in Colorado.

Again some will say that Toronto got younger. Benesch is 22, Thompson is 23 and Fines is 26. However Colin Doyle is still only thirty, 4 years younger than John Grant and 9 years younger than John Tavares. It is very likely that he will have at least five more good years.

Toronto gave up a number six draft choice this year but will get San Jose’s first rounder in the next two years. Depending on where San Jose finishes in the standings and how well Toronto drafts – those picks may one day swing the deal in Toronto’s favour. For now San Jose has got the better of this deal.

You rarely get equal value when you are forced to trade a superstar and as Andrew Lupton points out in his piece for Inside Lacrosse Magazine, the Toronto Rock felt that was the position they were in with Colin Doyle. Given their predicament the Rock did well. Ryan Benesch exceeded first year expectations but the player he ultimately becomes will determine how well Toronto does in this deal. It’s hard to quantify what Colin Doyle means to a team when he steps on the floor in a crunch situation. I’ve covered the Toronto Rock for 10 years and he helped give them an air of invincibility. They were the team that always found a way to win. Some teams will almost make a great comeback, or almost win a game in overtime, or almost score a dramatic last minute goal. Colin Doyle along with Josh Sanderson, Jim Veltman, Blaine Manning and Bob Watson and had the ability to make their teammates, opposition and 17,000 fans sense – or even expect – a storybook finish to every game. Last year, that was gone for the Toronto Rock and I have to believe that Doyle was the missing ingredient. In 2007, Toronto was not the team that scored “the big” goals. Conversely, San Jose was. Their playoff victory was one example of this. The Stealth came back from 7-2 deficit in Colorado to win in overtime. Doyle scored 10 points and assisted on 5 of Jeff Zywicki’s seven goals. It seems that Doyle was the missing ingredient for the Stealth and for that reason alone San Jose got the better of the deal. For now.

Rate This Story:

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...