Besides watching a lot of game film, Tim Soudan has devoted some of his free time during quarantine to woodworking. The Fairport, N.Y., native built pallet and flower boxes for his wife and daughter. He also nearly cut off his left index finger with a router.
Soudan undertook another heavy lift for his latest project earlier this month. It was a reconstruction of another kind: The Chrome LC roster. He knew the foundation was solid. Chrome boasted the highest scoring offense during the inaugural regular season. They had a trio of all-stars in Jordan Wolf, Ned Crotty and Justin Guterding, who tallied the third-most points in the 2019 regular season. They put up 19- and 20-goal performances during wins against the Chaos and Whipsnakes — the top two playoff seeds, respectively.
Yet, those were Chrome’s only two victories. After taking over in December, Soudan focused on revamping a defense that surrendered the most goals in 2019. He selected Jesse Bernhardt and Donny Moss in the entry draft, then added even more depth to that side of the ball in the college draft with Tom Rigney and Reece Eddy. But as June 12 neared, Soudan struggled to lock in a roster of 20 players, let alone the 22 that will travel to Utah in July for the PLL Championship Series. Several veterans and key contributors, including Joel White, Matt Danowski, Ryan Flanagan and Mike Manley, informed Soudan they could not participate in the fully quarantined and fanless tournament because of prior work or family obligations.
Chrome listed six players on the “Excused Inactive” list.
“Those are significant guys who really make a huge difference on what the team will look like,” Soudan said. “But we knew it was coming to some extent, so it wasn't a huge surprise.”
He went back to work. He conferenced with his assistant coaches, Nick Fiorentino and Jacques Monte, about how to best address their needs during the waiver period, which opened on June 15 at 8 a.m., and followed the same order as the second round of this year’s college draft. Chrome got all six players they coveted, including Jesse King, who played for Soudan when he coached the Rochester Rattlers in the MLL, along with Jacob Pulver and Eli Salama, who Soudan called “studs.”
Unlike the previous week, everything went to plan.
“I was so excited I got everybody we wanted,” Soudan said of the additions, who will be on Chrome's final 22-man travel roster, per a league rule. “I had been so stressed out about it for months. It was a great way to round things out.”
While the changes Soudan made were the most “extreme,” the moves represent the added challenges of trying to assemble a roster for the Championship Series, which begins on July 25. The inaugural PLL season stretched from the first weekend of June to late September. The Championship Series features 16 games over 20 days. Each team will travel 22 players to Utah. Three additional players for each squad will also be tested and serve as alternates in case of injury or illness. The rosters will be announced on June 30.
"You need to cover your bases," said Archers head coach Chris Bates, who effectively employed a two-goalie system last summer with Adam Ghitelman and Drew Adams. "If somebody goes down out of your 22, you want to be positioned well to make sure you have your replacement. You have your depth in your 22, but then you also need depth in your 25."
Some teams are better positioned than others to adapt. Whipsnakes head coach Jim Stagnitta made the fewest moves at the waiver deadline.
“The waiver was to fill a void,” he explained earlier this week. “We didn't have any voids.”
But more than emphasizing depth at one position, Stagnitta prioritized versatility and experience.
The Whipsnakes have plenty of both. Several of their midfielders can also play attack. While their 22-man roster will include three dedicated short stick defensive midfielders (Ty Warner, Jake Bernhardt and T.J. Comizio), John Haus, Joe LoCascio and Max Tuttle are adept on both sides of the field. Their entire standout starting defense from last year remains intact, and Stagnitta is confident their offensive additions (Tuttle and Zed Williams) can make up for some of the production lost when the Waterdogs took Connor Kelly, Drew Snider, Ben Reeves and Ryan Drenner in the expansion draft.
“The flexibility of the people on our team really gives us depth,” Stagnitta said.
Joe McCallion perhaps best personifies that trait. Last summer, Stagnitta brought in the 2015 Penn grad, who previously played for him on the Charlotte Hounds in the MLL, via a trade with the Archers. While McCallion only suited up in two games for the Whipsnakes, his diverse skill set should prove more crucial in the Championship Series. McCallion moved to attack in his senior year for the Quakers and put up 34 points. Before that, he played offensive and defensive midfield in addition to taking 273 faceoffs. So when the PLL announced the Championship Series format, Whipsnakes faceoff specialist Joe Nardella suggested to his head coach that they look inward instead of trying to draft or sign a second specialist.
“He gives us a ton of depth compared to some other people who are pure faceoff guys,” Stagnitta said of McCallion.
While most teams relied on one predominant faceoff option last season, the shortened window of the Championship Series, similar to the World Games, will alter those plans. Soudan signed Hunter Forbes during the waiver period to complement Connor Farrell. Nat St. Laurent brought in Greg Puskuldjian through the entry draft and added Peyton Smith out of Marist with the sixth overall pick in the college draft.
Waterdogs head coach Andy Copelan addressed that concern during the waiver period when he signed Jake Withers to pair with Drew Simoneau.
“It's going to be a long, grueling three weeks, so you need to be very strategic with how you assemble that roster,” Copelan said.
Even the Atlas, who’s Trevor Baptiste won a league best 62.8 percent of his faceoffs last regular season, added some help in that department when they picked up Jeremy Thompson during the waiver period.
“It’s all relative to the position,” Redwoods attackman Jules Heningburg said when asked which areas will require more depth given the new format. “The faceoff X is brutal, so it’s going to be important to have two guys where if one gets nicked up, the other guy can come in and give the starter some rest.”
But despite their best laid plans and preparations, the coaches still know to expect the unexpected.
"It's the first time like this for anyone,” Stagnitta said. “So what I think and what will happen could be two very different things."