NLL Training Camps are open, the season is nearly upon us. Pro lacrosse is back to take over our weekends. NLL season starting marks the beginning of what I consider to be my lacrosse year. It will take us right into college ball, which in turn takes us right into outdoor pro lacrosse.
The 2023-24 NLL season had all sorts of great stories. The Albany Firewolves took the league by storm and making it to the finals after a last place finish. Toronto had the best record in the league, but once again failed to slay a Buffalo branded dragon. The Bandits went back to back. The playoff picture wasn’t settled until after the very last game of the regular season. Vancouver’s young stars put it all together for the last six weeks of the regular season and looked like they arrived. Fun all around.
What does 2024-25 have in store? Assuredly a ton of fun lacrosse. But predicting this sport, indoors or out, is impossible. These are my biggest burning questions heading into the NLL season.
DOES ALBANY HAVE AN ENCORE?
In 2023, Albany finished the year dead last. They went 3-15, had the first overall pick, and had a number of bright young pieces that looked promising, but that it would take a few years to really get going. And then it just didn’t take a few years. In 2024 they were in the NLL Finals. They started the season 6-0, including wins over Buffalo, Halifax, and Georgia. The young offensive core of Alex Simmons, Ethan Walker, and Tye Kurtz was a scoring machine. Travis Longboat, Sam First, and Marshall Powless all played extremely well. Joe Nardella was healthy at the faceoff spot to tilt possession to Albany, and Doug Jamieson had an excellent season in goal. They did peter out down the stretch of the regular season, losing five of their last six games, but looked solid again in the playoffs, dismantling Halifax and then eliminating San Diego in two games.
After a year like that, the conversation changes. Albany entered last year with no expectations for any major success. That won’t be the case this year. You don’t go to the NLL Finals and then have another house money type year the following season. Albany will have to handle what they didn’t have last year: expectations. They add top pick Dyson Williams to the offense, further building what is arguably the best young offense in the sport.
Albany, you got our attention last year. You took the league by storm and announced that you can hang with the best. Can you do it again? Got an encore for us?
CAN TORONTO GET BY THE BANDITS?
The Toronto Rock had the best record in the league in the regular season last year. Since 2019, their WORST finish has been second in the East (before East/West was removed). Their regular season record over the last three years is 41-13, and they’ve lost just five home games in three years. They’ve got all the pieces. Latrell Harris should be back in the lineup, Challen Rogers should be healthy, Nick Rose is an MVP caliber goalie, the defense still has Mitch de Snoo and Brad Kri among others. Tom Schreiber’s summer injury could mean he gets a late start, but he should be on the floor for Toronto this year. Once again, all the pieces are there. But here’s how the last six years have gone for Buffalo:
2019: Lost to Bandits in playoffs
2020: No Playoffs, COVID
2021: Season Cancelled, COVID
2022: Lost to Bandits in playoffs
2023: Lost to Bandits in playoffs
2024: Lost to Bandits in playoffs
Toronto can keep racking up the regular season wins and dominating their way to the postseason, but sooner or later, they need to find a way to get past Buffalo. Do they finally break through this year and beat the two time defending champs?
WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP IN VANCOUVER?
The Vancouver Warriors are building something. Some of their major impact players this year could be Ryan Sheridan, Marcus Klarich, Payton Cormier, and Owen Grant, and the oldest players in the group are Cormier and Grant at 23. Adam Charalambides will likely be the top lefty. They have veterans at both ends to help steer the ship and the locker room like Keegan Bal, Riley Loewen, and Ryan Dilks, but this team continues to develop their bright young talent. Last year, in the early going, they looked like a young team learning together. They found themselves with a 2-8 record after ten games. Curt Malawsky challenged them, and things turned. Vancouver went 6-2 over their last eight games, including wins over Buffalo and Halifax, and were in the mix for a playoff spot in the final weekend of the regular season.
Malawsky is the perfect coach/GM for the job in Vancouver. The team ended 2023-24 with some excellent momentum. They’ve got some new young faces to work in this year like Cormier to build on what they had. What will be the standard for a successful year in Vancouver? Can they be a playoff team? Will they be solid in goal? Last year the foundation was laid, this year will be about continuing to build. There’s a lot to be excited about, and it’s fair to ask, just where is the bar for the Warriors this year?
JEFF TEAT, MVP?
Jeff Teat is regarded as one of, if not the best player in the world. Players, coaches, fans, media, everyone is in agreement that Teat is a game breaking talent. He’s gone over 100 points in each year of his career, registered 130 last year, the third most in the league. Josh Byrne led the league with 135. In 2023, Teat’s 136 points were the most in the NLL. With all that production, Teat has been an MVP finalist just once in three years.
What will it take to get his name on the MVP trophy? It probably starts with a playoff trip for Ottawa. Teat has yet to make the NLL playoffs. Last year, the New York Riptide had a chance to get in but the game results the final weekend of the regular season didn’t go the way they needed, so once again, they were left to watch the postseason from home.
They’ve relocated to Ottawa, where the hope is a stronger market and more fervent fan support will bolster this team. The Black Bears acquired Zach Higgins to address goaltending issues, they acquired Justin Robinson from Buffalo, they signed Luc Magnan. The front office has been aggressive about improving the roster.
If Teat has yet another high scoring season and Ottawa finally gets into the playoffs, is that enough to put Teat over the top for an MVP award? What would Teat have to do to win it if the team once again misses the playoffs?
DOES SAN DIEGO FINALLY HAVE THE RIGHT MIX?
Nobody goes after the big names like the Seals. Every offseason, the top of the free agent market is sought by San Diego. They make deals for the stars of the sport. This offseason was no different. They signed Rob Hellyer, Ryan Benesch, and Ben McIntosh. They acquired Zach Currier from Calgary in exchange for Curtis Dickson. They let Dane Dobbie walk in free agency. Back are weapons like Wes Berg, Tre Leclaire, Kyle Jackson,, and Mac O’Keefe. Chris Origieri is back in net; he’s the best young goalie in the NLL. Austin Staats is, at this moment, on the roster, but his focus is undoubtedly on his legal troubles after being arrested and charged with assault, assault with choking, threatening death or bodily harm, and other crimes back in August.
The Seals big name hunting and roster building will always have them in the playoff mix. Just due to the sheer volume of talent and skill, San Diego should be able to hang with anyone in the NLL. It’s been that way since they joined the league in 2019. But despite their star studded lineup and regular season success (they won the west twice in the last three years, and had the 2nd best record in the NLL last year), they have yet to even appear in an NLL Finals.
San Diego will assuredly be one of the favorites for the title again based on the roster assembled. But they don’t play the games on paper. Is this the right mix to finally put the Seals in their first NLL Finals?