2023 Premier Lacrosse League Preview: Chaos LC

With the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League season set to open in Albany, N.Y., on June 3, USA Lacrosse Magazine is going team by team in the days leading up to the opener. Today, we take a deep dive on Chaos LC.

CHAOS LC

2022 Record: 2-8
Head Coach: Andy Towers
Assistants: Matt Panetta, Jamie Hanford

Key Additions: Will Bowen, D; Brian Minicus, A; Tye Kurtz, M; Nick Rowlett, FO; Johnny Surdick, D (military commitment in 2022); Kevin Lindley, A (holdout in 2022)

Key departures: Challen Rogers, M (Archers); Mac O’Keefe, M (Archers); Wes Berg, A (Redwoods), Matt Rees, D (Cannons)

STORYLINES TO WATCH

Who will be available at the start of the season?

It’s the same story every year for the Chaos. The team’s roster features many NLL players who, due to the overlap between the two leagues, aren’t available at the start of the season. Most of their NLL athletes play for the Buffalo Bandits, who play in Game 2 of the NLL Finals on Monday against the Colorado Mammoth, meaning Chris Cloutier, Ian MacKay, Max Adler, Josh Byrne, Dhane Smith, and Chase Fraser were all absent for the first three weeks of last season. Even when they were physically present, Towers said it took time to get them connected on offense and to get refreshed emotionally and physically. Should we expect the same this summer?

The 2023 season features less of an overlap with the NLL Finals beginning May 27, one week before the first game of the PLL season. Towers said it’s not an ideal way to start a season, but he likes the core of his roster and is willing to work through it.

Towers said the team will have defender Johnny Surdick — who missed last season due to military commitments — and attackman Kevin Lindley — a holdout in 2022 because of work commitments — available this season.

*In the East Conference final, Josh Byrne was injured and placed on injured reserve prior to the NLL Finals. The severity of his injury, and if he will miss part of the PLL season, remains unclear.

What does the midfield situation look like?

Towers said he thinks Dhane Smith is the best midfielder on the planet, and he had his best season as a professional field player in 2023, with career highs in assists (17) and points (23) in seven games. Kyle Jackson has been a solid contributor, and his 11 points were the most since 2019’s 15-game MLL season. Ryan Smith played more games in his second season and posted new career highs in goals, assists and points; he could be in line for more production, too. They’re the only offensive midfielders listed on the roster.

The team will need more depth at the position, and this is where the team’s rookies could earn a lot of playing time. The Chaos took a couple players on the offensive end that have some positional versatility. Brian Minicus (27 goals, 20 assists) and Tye Kurtz (54 goals, 30 assists) have put up big scoring totals in college. While they may be listed at attack, it seems they will all be playing out of the box this summer for the Chaos. 

Can the team reach an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship game?

In 2020, the team didn’t win a single game during group play. In 2021, it finished 4-5 and sixth out of eight teams. And the team finished in seventh in 2022, only one game ahead of the last-place Cannons. Despite the lack of regular season success, the Chaos hit the right chords come playoff time and have played in each of the past three championship games, winning the 2021 PLL title.

The Chaos will have to perform better across the board if they want another trip to the championship. They had the lowest scoring total in the league, the second-worst scores-against total and the second-worst score differential. They caused the fewest turnovers and picked up the fewest ground balls.

Towers didn’t utilize free agency to add to the roster. In fact, the Chaos lost several key players. Still, with less of an overlap between the NLL and PLL season, the Chaos should get the bulk of their core back earlier, which means they should also get healthier sooner. If the Chaos are at full strength for most of the season, they are, at the very least, better than team that was fighting for their position at the bottom of the standings last year.