(Photos courtesy of New York Riptide / Halifax Thunderbirds / New England Black Wolves)
The National Lacrosse League may have gone on hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the offseason was anything but uneventful. The league saw several big name players on the move and several sign notable long -term deals. With the league's 2021 season approaching, Lacrosse Playground decided to look at the top 10 offseason moves in the NLL.
Author's Note: Notable 2020 draftees were not considered for this list, and instead the list only features trades and signings that occurred. Don't worry, we think Jeff Teat going #1 overall to the New York Riptide is still a big deal.
10. Challen Rogers re-signs with Toronto Rock
While Challen Rogers didn't change teams this offseason, he did make a big splash, signing the longest deal in Toronto Rock history. The deal will have the 2019 and 2020 Transition Player of the Year suiting up for the Rock as their captain for the next seven years.
9. Vancouver Warriors acquire Kyle Killen
The Vancouver Warriors acquired forward Kyle Killen from the Colorado Mammoth in exchange for a 2021 second round pick.
Killen scored 21 points in his sophomore campaign after making the All-Rookie Team in 2019. The Warriors will look to Killen to help an offense that averaged the second fewest goals per game last season.
8. Matt Gilray dealt to Rochester Knighthawks
Coming in at #8 is the Buffalo Bandits' trade of transition player Matt Gilray and the 54th selection (Mitch Ogilvie) in the 2020 NLL Draft to the Rochester Knightshawks in exchange for the 19th pick (Sam La Roue) in 2020, a 2021 first rounder and 2023 second rounder.
Following the trade, Gilray signed a two-year contract with the Knighthawks.
7. New England Black Wolves acquire Jacob Ruest
The New England Black Wolves acquired forward Jacob Ruest from the Colorado Mammoth in exchange for the 18th (Ron John) and 33rd (Tyler Sceviour) picks in the 2020 NLL draft.
Ruest will join a New England squad that's front office had been eyeing him for some time. The Robert Morris grad recorded 32 points (19 goals, 13 assists) in 13 games in his last season in Colorado.
6. Halifax Thunderbirds trade for Tyson Bell
Coming in at #6 is Halifax's addition of defenseman Tyson Bell. The Thunderbirds traded the 14th (Harrison Matsuoka) and 20th (Ethan Ticehurst) picks in the 2020 NLL Draft to the Calgary Roughnecks in exchange for the five-year vet.
The 2019 NLL champion joins a Halifax team who also added another defenseman on draft night, when they selected Ethan Riggs with the 11th overall selection.
5. Toronto Rock bolsters defense, with Jason Noble and Mitch de Snoo
#5 could technically be considered two moves, but since they came in succession, I thought I would loop them together. Those moves being Toronto's additions of veteran defensemen Mitch de Snoo and Jason Noble in separate trades.
The Rock acquired Noble from the Georgia Swarm in exchange for the 10th pick (Ethan Walker) in the 2020 NLL Draft and a 2021 1st round pick.
Toronto added de Snoo in exchange for defensemen Alex Tulett and Brock Sorenson, and a conditional 2022 1st round pick.
4. Philadelphia Wings deal for Ben McIntosh
The Philadelphia Wings swung one of the biggest deals of the offseason, trading forward Josh Currier, the 10th pick (Marshall Poweless) in the 2020 NLL Draft and a 2021 1st round pick to the Saskatchewan Rush for forward Ben McIntosh.
The former 1st overall pick and Rookie of the Year returns to the city where he spent his college days. Wings fans hope that the Drexel alum can bring his winning pedigree with him to Philly after winning multiple championships (2016, 2018) with the Rush.
3. Zed Williams swapped for Dan Coates
In arguably the biggest trade of the offseason, the Colorado Mammoth sent defenseman and captain Dan Coates to the Georgia Swarm in exchange for Zed Williams and the 24th and 26th pick in the 2020 NLL Draft.
Coates moved to Georgia after spending his first 9 seasons in Colorado. The Swarm will look to Coates to fill the hole left after the aforementioned Jason Noble trade. Coates seems to be fitting in nicely with his current teammates as was already named assistant captain for the coming season.
Williams heads to Colorado following his best professional field season, which saw him MVP honors at the Premier Lacrosse League bubble over the summer. The 3-year vet joins a Mammoth squad that saw a number of roster changes on the offensive side of the ball in the offseason (see #9 and #7).
2. New England re-signs Doug Jamieson
Coming in at #2 is the New England Black Wolves resigning of goalie, Doug Jamieson, to a 3-year contract.
Whiling the re-signing of the reigning Goalie of the Year is always newsworthy, the process that saw Jamieson remain in orange and black (instead of orange and purple) is why you find it so high on my list.
The Black Wolves matched Halifax's offer sheet to keep the restricted free agent in New England, and then subsequently voiced their disapproval of the Thunderbirds' offer on Twitter.
1. Callum Crawford signs with the New York Riptide
Coming in at #1 is the New York Riptide's signing of forward and perennial goal scorer, Callum Crawford, to a 2-year deal.
The Riptide will look to the 16-year vet to help them bounce back after they found the win column just once in their inaugural season.
In his final season with New England, Crawford scored 76 points in just 11 games. will add some much needed offensive output to help the likes of reigning Rookie of the Year, Tyson Gibson.
With the addition of the MVP finalist and the 1st first overall pick in the 2020 NLL Draft, Jeff Teat, the tides may be turning in New York.