National Lacrosse League championship MVP Jeff Shattler, who led the Saskatchewan Rush to their third NLL title in four years June 9, is among big-name players left unprotected Tuesday for the July 16 expansion draft.
Also left off protected lists were Rush forward Dan Dawson, who captained Canada to the 2015 world indoor championship, NLL captains Brodie Merrill of the Toronto Rock and Sid Smith of the Rochester Knighthawks and longtime Buffalo Bandits player Mark Steenhuis.
The new Philadelphia Wings get first dibs and will alternate with the San Diego Seals through nine rounds of picks. The nine existing teams can each lose no more than two players.
Many exposed veterans will stay put, since the two new clubs might be reluctant to load up with older players on maximum-salary contracts or because some are unrestricted free agents who can sign anywhere.
Shattler is 33, has a lot of lacrosse left in him, and he is under contract for next season, but younger Rush players Marty Dinsdale and Jeff Cornwall were not protected and might be better long-term options. Selecting Dawson and Merrill would be risky, since both are unrestricted free agents and, because both are older than 34, they could reject a franchise tag slapped on them by an expansion team hoping to convince them to embark on a fresh challenge. Saskatchewan also left defenseman Brett Mydske and faceoff specialist Jeremy Thompson off their protected list but both are UFAs and have indicated they’ll re-sign with the Rush.
In the case of exposed Colorado Mammoth forward Stephen Keogh, a franchise tag would work if either expansion team selected the unrestricted free agent because he is 31.
Buffalo is the only team opting not to protect any of its goaltenders. Alex Buque, Davide DiRuscio and Zach Higgins are all under the “available” banner. Other unprotected goalies are New England’s Aaron Bold, Calgary’s Frankie Scigliano, Toronto’s Brandon Miller and Colorado’s Steve Fryer.
Players who will draw the most interest from the Wings and the Seals include Josh Currier of the Knighthawks, Brett Hickey of the Rock, Georgia’s Kiel Matisz and Chase Fraser of the Bandits.
Currier scored a game-high four goals in helping Rochester win Game 2 of the championship series, but he was left unprotected. He’s only 25. He was on the 2017 NLL all-rookie team. He scored 17 regular season goals. The Knighthawks protected Austin Shanks, who scored 27 goals as a rookie, over Currier for future use alongside Joey Resetarits on the right side of the offense.
Hickey also was squeezed out. A 50-goal scorer three years ago, the 28-year-old righty was the odd man out after Rob Hellyer returned from injury to work with Tom Schreiber on that side of the Rock offense. It’s a good bet that one of the two expansion teams will welcome Hickey with open arms.
“This expansion draft format will make the new franchises competitive right away,” Rock owner Jamie Dawick said in a press release. “They will have access to quality lacrosse players through this process. Like most teams, we don’t want to lose anyone, but we’re going to lose two players and now we wait a couple of weeks to see how things unfold and move on from there.”
Matisz, 29, has played six NLL seasons. The 6-foot-5 righty was the third player drafted in 2012 and is a formidable presence in any team’s colors.
Fraser, 23, was the 13th player drafted in 2017 and as a rookie got into only nine Bandits games last season. The 6-foot-3 forward’s untapped pro potential has to be appealing to an expansion team.
Other well-known players listed as “available” include: Bill O’Brien of the Bandits; Calgary veterans Mike Carnegie, Greg Harnett, Curtis Manning and Tyler Digby; Colorado’s Greg Downing and Brad Self; Georgia’s Alex Crepinsek, Jordan Hall, Ethan O’Connor and Joel White; New England’s Kevin Buchanan, David Brock, Johnny Powless and Jay Thorimbert; Paul Dawson, Ian Lord, Cory Vitarelli and Billy Dee Smith of the Knighthawks; Nik Bilic and Adrian Sorichetti of the Rush; Toronto’s Sandy Chapman, Damon Edwards, No. 2 overall 2012 draft pick Brock Sorensen and Kieran McArdle; and Vancouver’s Travis Cornwall, Jon Harnett, Ian Hawksbee, Pat Saunders, Cliff Smith and Chris O’Dougherty.
More appealing to the expansion teams than most of the vets will be younger players such as Zed Williams of the Swarm and Frank Brown of the Knighthawks, who were just rookies last season.
Vancouver protected a defenseman, Mack Mitchell, who has appeared in only two NLL games. The former Buffalo draft pick was a free-agent signing by the no-longer-by-that-name Stealth last April 11.
This expansion draft will be conducted after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement between the NLL and the PLPA. Free agency ages are likely to fall before the next round of anticipated expansion.