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Featured today in our Futures Report is Joel Dalgarno, the No. 7 overall pick in the ‘09 NLL Entry Draft. READ MORE »
Last year at around this time, we delved into ”the roots” of the National Lacrosse League, looking at what areas from across North America the league’s players come from, focusing on Ontario, BC, Alberta, the US and players of Iroquois decent.
Ontario alone makes up close to 50% of the NLL. The US a growing almost 18%. Canada as a whole, making up in the ballpark of three-quarters of the league’s population.
So with that said, why is almost every draft year’s “roots” breakdown look like almost the opposite of what the full-time NLL is actually made up of?
Although Canucks almost always make up a large portion of the first two rounds of most year’s drafts (players usually taken inside the first 20 picks are considered “locks” by most teams), Americans always make up a majority of the players taken past that point. READ MORE »
Well, the National Lacrosse League Entry Draft is in the books, so it’s team draft grades season, everyone’s favourite time of year during the NLL’s off-season.
Did teams address needs either through picks or draft day trades? What players taken on Wednesday can you expect to already start producing and playing full-time ball in 2010? Who got what looks like might be some late round steals? What happened to some of those rumoured moves that many heard about just prior to the draft going live? After the jump, check out the answers to those question and more, in NLL Insider’s ‘09 Team Draft Grades. READ MORE »
Last year NLL Insider brought you our Hot 30, looking at the top 30 pro prospects we liked heading into the ‘08 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft, Daryl Veltman leading the pack and eventually going first overall to the Boston Blazers.
With this year’s draft not only more top-heavy but also deeper than we’ve seen in years, NLL Insider has dropped another 20 names in this year’s ranking, looking at the best 50 players available in tomorrow’s draft, the New Westminster Salmobellies’ rugged, tenacious, two-way power forward, Ilija Gajic, taking the top spot.
So after the jump, check out some of this year’s top prospects available, the guys we deem the best pound-for-pound ballers from 1-50, and make sure to check in during and after the draft for more extensive coverage at NLL Insider. READ MORE »
With Colgate’s Brandon Corp telling NLL Insider earlier this summer that he wasn’t planning on trying his hand at the NLL, and then Virginia’s Danny Glading doing the same earlier this week (although he isn’t ruling out the NLL down the road altogether), it was pretty refreshing to run into Ryan Hoff’s opposing attitude a couple days before this year’s draft.
Hoff, like Dan Hardy, is extremely motivated and interested at landing a gig in the NLL, the University of Notre Dame’s attacker also currently up for hardware in Inside Lacrosse’s Laxies.
With 134 goals during his four years with the Irish, Hoff brings a series of tools that have pro GM’s thinking he can make the switch, number one on that list, his play in traffic and ability to bury the rock over-and-over again. READ MORE »
Another early ‘89 inclusion in this year’s draft, St. Catharines Athletics forward Geoff McNulty’s role on the team can be best described as… glue.
Not glue as in, “as slow as” (in fact McNulty is the exact opposite, kids got major speed), but glue as in, what makes things stick, tick and whatever else is necessary to get the job done.
His role with St. Catharines might not be as high profile as guys like Corey Small, Andrew Potter or Frank & Joey Resetarits, but McNulty brings an unselfish, do what’s gotta been done to get points on the board role, that teams in the NLL always seem to be scrambling to fill. READ MORE »
Versatility and an ability to adapt to your surroundings is huge in the NLL, especially for prospects still looking to make the big show.
Had Paul Dawson not been willing to drop his keeper gear and try his hand at a pure D role, he might not be in the NLL right now.
When AJ Shannon first broke into the league with the Buffalo Bandits, he was known as a lethal goal scorer, but found his niche with Buffalo as an offensive defender, who actually made a deadly tandem with Mark Steenhuis during his rookie year.
The Six Nations Arrows’ two-way spark plug, Cody Johnson, brings that “whatever-is-needed-of-me” mentality, similar to a ball player that took that mindset all the way to an NLL title last winter, Calgary’s Jeff Shattler. READ MORE »
It wasn’t all that many years ago that the likes of Billy Dee Smith, Sean Greenhalgh, Craig Conn, Mark Paniccia, Mike Longboat, Matt Vinc, Kyle Neufeld, Rory Glaves (the list of quality guys could go on forever), ruled the junior scene in the St. Catharines’ double blue with an iron fist as heavy as the one the Orangeville Northmen hammer the province with today.
Although the A’s franchise has had uneven success since those days in the early 00’s, one thing that has always really been a constant in their crew is good, steady, effective, consistent D… always.
There are a few kids out of their current back court available in the NLL draft that play with the same passion and heart as some of the previously mentioned ball players above. One guy, who’s been an everyday starter since he made the full-time jump to the squad in ‘06, is Mike Buck Jr. READ MORE »
Although the Rochester Knighthawks’ brass has made it pretty known that Six Nations Chiefs and former Syracuse University defender Sid Smith was a guy they’d likely be spending one of their first two picks on in next week’s draft, there was still a bit of mystery whether he’d go first or second, potentially someone like Zack Greer, Iljia Gajic or Garrett Billings being the first name called out on the day.
The mystery of this year’s number one appears to be over however. Filed somewhere between “likely” and “let the cat outta the bag”, the Knighthawks issued a press release earlier today, very much insinuating that Smith would be joining the list of past first overall grabs, which includes recent first overall picks Daryl Veltman, Jordan Hall, Ryan Benesch and Brodie Merrill. READ MORE »
Last year, junior keeps Nick Rose and Matt Flindell were easy choices as the head of the class goalies in the ‘08 National Lacrosse League Entry Draft.
Rose got picked up by Toronto and is now behind Anthony Cosmo and Mike Poulin in Boston, while Flindell impressed in his first year in Portland, currently on Philadelphia’s roster via the dispersal draft.
Although this year’s keeper talent pool might not be as easy to project the top one or two gimmies from, one guy likely near the top of most GM’s tender wish list has gotta be the St. Catharines Athletics’ Zach Bowen.
With good stats, some of the biggest money games the junior league in Ontario has seen over the past couple summers, and a willingness to learn the pro game and earn his NLL stripes, Bowen brings the tools and attitude to land a gig on someone’s full-roster. READ MORE »
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