The Buffalo Bandits selected lefty forward Josh Byrne with the No. 1 overall pick in the National Lacrosse League draft Monday at Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, Ontario.
Byrne, coming off of a record-setting rookie season in Major League Lacrosse, said he hoped his MLL Rookie of the Year campaign with the Chesapeake Bayhawks could propel him into similar success in the NLL.
“You dream about this as a little kid. To be even mentioned with some of the names out here, it’s an honor,” Byrne said during a live broadcast of the draft on NLLTV. “With Chesapeake, Lyle Thompson, he’s an unreal player and I got very lucky with that [team]. Hopefully that paves the way into playing in the NLL.”
Byrne, a native of New Westminster, British Columbia, played two junior college seasons at Nassau Community College before finishing his collegiate career at Hofstra. After graduating as a third-team USILA Division I All-American in May, Byrne had a big summer, scoring 39 goals in just nine games with the Bayhawks to set the MLL rookie record.
With the Bandits, he will help fill the void left by Ryan Benesch (traded to Colorado in August) on the left side of the floor. Buffalo also acquired lefty forward Jordan Durston from the Vancouver Stealth in a pre-draft trade for Anthony Malcolm and the 12th overall pick. Durston ranked fourth among Stealth players with 43 points (25 goals, 18 assists) last season.
The Rochester Knighthawks, who owned three first-round picks, used all three to select players from Ohio State. Jake Withers, Austin Shanks and Eric Fannell — all of whom played integral roles in the Buckeyes’ run to the NCAA championship game — came off the board at No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. (Another Ohio State graduate, Johnny Pearson, went in the second round when the Vancouver Stealth drafted him at No. 19.)
After Rochester surprisingly passed on Zach Currier at No. 2, the Calgary Roughnecks nabbed the Princeton product at No. 3. Currier is coming off of an impressive postseason run with the Peterborough Lakers of Major Series Lacrosse.
Another surprise came at No. 4, where the Georgia Swarm tabbed Zed Williams out of Virginia. Williams wowed this summer in limited action in the Canadian Senior B ranks, but he is relatively inexperience compared to the other first-round picks.
The defending NLL champion Georgia Swarm traded their two first-round picks to New England (No. 7) and Calgary (No. 9) for first-round selections in 2020 and 2019, respectively, following a trend of summer trades in which teams are loading up on draft picks to absorb the loss of established players in the looming NLL expansion drafts. The league recently added franchises in San Diego and Philadelphia for the 2018-19 season.
“And we’re not done,” commissioner Nick Sakiewicz said from the podium Monday. “We have more work to do, more teams coming in and more jobs to be created.”
With the trades, the Black Wolves and Roughnecks owned the final five picks of the first round.
New England drafted Colton Watkinson (Limestone), Anthony Joaquim (Saint Joseph’s) and JP Kealey (Robert Morris) at No. 7, No. 8 and No. 10, respectively. Kealey is a rare Ottawa product who came on strong playing for the Langley Thunder this summer.
Calgary tabbed Tyler Pace (Denver) at No. 9 overall, then finished out the first round by selection Ryan Martel (Langley) at No. 11.
NLL Draft First-Round Results
1 – Buffalo – Josh Byrne (Hofstra)
2 – Rochester – Jake Withers (Ohio State)
3 – Calgary – Zach Currier (Princeton)
4 – Georgia – Zed Williams (Virginia)
5 – Rochester – Austin Shanks (Ohio State)
6 – Rochester – Eric Fannell (Ohio State)
7 – New England – Colton Watkinson (Limestone) *
8 – New England – Anthony Joaquim (Saint Joseph’s)
9 – Calgary – Tyler Pace (Denver) *
10 – New England – JP Kealey (Robert Morris)
11 – Calgary – Ryan Martel (Langley Thunder)
* via Georgia
For complete draft coverage, including rounds 2-6, visit nll.com.