NLL Insider

The Colin Doyle trade will finally fully play out at the draft this year. (Photo: Matt J. Wiater)

We’ve had a bunch of emails flood in since yeterday’s post on NLL Insider’s plans for National Lacrosse League Entry Draft coverage this summer and our pick countdown of what could be the most loaded first round in league hisotry.

Why does Rochester own the first two picks this year? Why are the Wings nowhere to be found? And why does Edmonton get to use a pick that is rooted from the now very much dead Chicago Shamrox? Find out the answer to those questions, plus others, straight after the jump.

So firstly, only five teams currently hold their natural draft pick this year, that of course being Minnesota (3rd overall), Colorado (4th), Boston (8th), New York (10th) and Calgary (11th).

The rest…

Why does Rochester, who made this year’s playoffs and finished ahead of teams like Edmonton, Philadelphia and Toronto, go one-and-two at the draft table? The Hawks own Edmonton’s first round pick (Rush finished dead-last this year), grabbing it when Mike Accursi was dealt to Edmonton almost two years ago. And then they got the Rock’s natural first round selection in the move that saw Aaron Wilson and Stephen Hoar swapped on the eve of last year’s draft. With John Grant expected back a million years earlier than first thought, and Scott Evans also more than likely on the rug in 2010, the Hawks are shaping up to be a pretty strong force half a year before next season even drops.

Next on the list is Philly and their absence in the first round, where some emailers and posters felt they should be picking before Colorado, who they technically finished behind in the standings this year. That Wings’ first rounder was moved when Matt Roik and Brad Self were shipped to the Shamrox for Brandon Miller and a second rounder last fall. As with other grounded franchises in the past, the NLL simply voids any picks they would have owned, whether that’s their natural or traded for picks. Once you deal a player or pick, they’re gone no matter what happens to the other team (unless you’re the Arizona Sting sorta).

The next questioned pick in our draft breakdown was Colorado picking back-to-back with the fourth and fifth overall picks. The fourth is their natural pick, while the fifth pick, originally belonging to the K’Hawks, went the Mammoth’s way in the Gary Gait trade, which also saw the Hawks send last year’s first rounder along with St. Catharines Athletics’ scoring stud, Andrew Potter, to Colorado. The Mammoth used last year’s pick to grab Matt Danowki.

Same story for Toronto, who goes with two picks straight with the next two selections in the draft at the sixth and seventh spots. That sixth pick is actually the San Jose Stealth’s natural pick, but the Rock have owned it for a number of years since the Colin Doyle blockbuster. We’ll finally see how that controversial trade plays out now that all picks will be factored in, even though tracking that trade and what eventually went where would probably lead you straight to Osama Bin Laden. And then the seventh pick is actually Portland’s original grab, but the Rock nailed it down in a move with Edmtonon when they shipped off Ryan Benesch and Derek Suddons to the Rush. Edmonton owned the Jax’s pick since the ‘08 trade deadline via the Matt Disher trade.

Take a breath, only two more unnatural picks to figure out…

The Rush get the Bandits’ first round pick after former GM Bob Hamley sent Accursi to Buffalo for Dan Teat, Buffalo’s ‘08 second rounder and then this year’s upcoming first round pick as well. Right now at least, this will be the third straight year Buffalo won’t be calling out anyone’s name in the first round. The last time Buffalo drafted within the first round was in 2006 when they took Brett Butcktooth out of Syracuse.

And the last questioned pick, the 12th one in the draft, comes from Hamley trading Andrew Biers to San Jose at this year’s trade deadline. The pick was actually one the Stealth picked up from Chicago in the big keeper swap that saw Anthony Cosmo sent back East to Chicago and Roik to Cali. Unlike Philly, who can’t get back what they already gave away in their dealings with the defunct Shamrox, the Stealth are still entitled to something to keep the trade scales even. Since the Shamrox were inactive this year, in previous years when that’s happened, that pick is simply plugged in as the last pick of the first round.

Of note, on the same day Hamley shipped off Biers for that first round pick, he also picked up the Rush a pretty high second round pick (14th overall) this year when he sent Steve Dietrich to Toronto. Hammer set up the Rush with some pretty decent positioning in a draft the team’s natural first pick was long dealt before his arrival. Too bad Hamley won’t be around to conitnue building from those moves though. The only first pick Hamley himself moved was the one he originally picked up from Portland in the Disher for King swap he orchestrated, but you gotta ask yourself, will the guy the Rock pick at sixth overall (and then 2010 2nd rounder as well) equal the value of former first rounders and full-time pros, Benesch and Suddons? Another interesting long term Rock deal to keep your eyes on.

Think that’s about it. Hopefully answered most questions, but if you have any more, definitely shoot me an email or hit the boards and lay it out. And yes, I put my big boy pants on and figured out that draft math all by myself (although the league did confirm it was accurate as of today).

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