NLL Insider

Like Paul Tutka noted earlier this week in his ranking of top players at each position, Jordan Hall and Craig Point may be the front two runners for Rookie of the Year this year. But selecting the All Rookie team will be tough as there are a lot of good ballers in this year’s rookie crop.

That said, here are your Top 10 NLL Rookies after Week 12.

Top 10

1 (1) Jordan Hall, New York – Another New York win. Hall’s playing great and sits Top 20 overall in the league in goals and points, just a couple of points back of rookie points leader Craig Point. Right now the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NLL Entry Draft is a contender for Rookie of the Year, playing a little of everything for the Titans.

“Jordan is playing well above expectations and I am counting on him to do the same down the stretch run,” said New York head coach Adam Mueller. “He has very good loose ball numbers and has been a great addition on our ball line and on defense the few shifts a game he plays there.”

“On the offensive end, Jordan does not have many bad shifts. His footwork and speed are huge assets and he is finishing at a very good 25% rate to date. Jordan shares PP time and is fitting in real well at the shooter spot. Five-on-five is where I expect Jordan to make his biggest impact over the next few seasons. He has adapted his game to the pro level very well this season and I expect he will only get better.”

Coach Mueller added Hall’s also been a great team player and locker room presence. And with New York now seriously contending for a playoff position, how can you not like the Titan at the No. 1 spot? Well, Point makes an obvious argument.

2 (2) Craig Point, Minnesota – After three sub-par performances that resulted in loses, Craig tallied a team high four goals and six points last weekend resulting in the Swarm getting back in the win column. The rookie is now No. 7 overall in the league in goals (tied with NLL All-Stars John Tavares, Casey Powell and Dan Carey) and No. 13 overall in league scoring (tied with Dan Dawson and Blaine Manning). The guy’s been a serious offensive force for one of the league’s top teams.

3 (8) Jaime Rooney, Philadelphia – Rooney’s been hanging around the top of this list all year but cracks into the Top 3 with yet another clutch performance on the weekend. The kid scored two straight Philly goals at crucial times last weekend, including the tally that stopped San Jose’s 8-2 run to help lead the Wings to yet another victory. He’s been scoring those big goals all season, including in the Wings’ second game of the season when he scored the game winner and four points in a one-goal margin of victory over Rochester.

4 (5) Tyler Codron, Portland – Set career highs two weekends by collecting nine ground balls and two assists, as he continued to help Portland’s transition game and play aggressive D. Codron’s played every game for the ‘Jax this year who, after a bye last week, kick off Week 13 with a early Thursday night game versus Colorado.

5 (6) Kyle Ross, Minnesota – Got back on track playing solid defensively and also helping push the ball up field, scoring a goal and an assist in the Minny win last weekend. Plus, he picked up five gbs and a fighting major in his second NLL tilt. After first trying Buffalo’s Pat McCready, Ross decided to go with Chicago’s Drew Candy last weekend.

6 (3) Merrick Thomson, Philadelphia – After a blazing start that had him on pace to break 90 points this season, Thomson finally had an off night last weekend, collecting zero points on nine shots Friday. The Albany grad still has an impressive 31 points in seven games. For comparison, Hall has 44 points and Point has 46 points, both in 10 games played.

7 (9) Brandon Swamp and (NR) Kyle Schmelzle, Buffalo – Kilgour’s using these guys lots and they’re playing like regular pros. Big, fast, aggressive and able to push the ball up floor. Part of the reason Buffalo’s enjoying great early season success. Had a bye last weekend and play Toronto this Saturday in a key divisional match.

8 (NR) Steve Panarelli – A number of rook D on the carpet last weekend in that Philly-San Jose game, including Paul Dawson, Pat Heim and Jim Borell, but Panarelli impressed the most with solid D and stick skills. He was calm bringing the ball out of his own end, and the former Syracuse All-American looks to have made the adjustment well.

9 (4) Frank Resetarits, San Jose – Didn’t do much last weekend to create his own chances or looks for others and ended up with zero goals after collecting eight in his previous three games. The top Entry Draft selection has 15 points in six games. Surely, the Stealth are hoping for more production from Resetarits and Tom Johnson who also had just two points last weekend.

10 (7) Justin Norbraten, Minnesota – Was the best of all rooks in the Minny-Buffalo game a couple weekends ago, and that performance barely keeps him in the Top 10 after sitting last week.

Out

NR (10) Matt Lyons, Rochester – The Knighthawks really needed to have one of their three rookie forwards step up this year. You have one of those guys step up and deliver like Rooney has in the crunch, and Rochester probably isn’t so far outside of playoffs right now. Lyons had one goal last weekend in another Knighthawks’ loss.

NR (T-8) Pat Heim, Philadelphia – Great athleticism and stick skills, but hard for him to shine on a team that includes Geoff Snider, Taylor Wray, Rob Van Beek, Kyle Sweeney and John Christmas.

Just missing the cut

NR (NR) Steve Hutchins, Edmonton – Less minutes with all the new Edmonton arrivals but two straight victories for the Rush, and Hutchins now has eight points in those two games.

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