My random thoughts…
The Panther City Lacrosse Club is no more, and it’s a sad day in the lacrosse world because of it. The fact that something needed to happen in Fort Worth shouldn’t be a surprise to any NLL fans. We all saw the crowd sizes. The team gave it an extended go, in a facility that is a fantastic facility to be at, and with a team that is a really good young team. Despite all of this, lacrosse didn’t sell well in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Lacrosse is not the only sport that has had a lot of difficulty surviving at Dickie’s Arena. A recent major example was the Women’s Tennis Association holding their tour finals at Dickie’s in 2022, a tournament that features only the top 8 players of the season, and it only drew hundreds of fans the majority of the tournament.
The concerning part of the demise of PCLC to me is that with a roster so strong, the team was unable to find a buyer with any reasonable relocation prospects that the team ultimately had to disperse. If anyone that was acceptable to the Board of Governors was looking for an expansion team, PCLC’s roster alone would make it a far better opportunity to get off the ground and running, with a team that is a contender to draw a crowd in for that new market.Â
If you were wondering when expansion would occur next, don’t expect it to happen for a while.
There were a lot of fans that were angry about the lack of transparency from the league and very few insiders speaking about what was happening with PCLC, especially when the free agency window was extended out to begin on August 29th and then September 2nd. The truth of what was happening is very complex and multiple possible outcomes were possible up until this past Friday. At various points this summer, there were rumors of teams relocating to Laval, Edmonton, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Charlotte and St. Louis.
The information that was being received was changing constantly, from a dispersal draft to a potential new owner, to another, and this changed several times per week. For those fans not happy about transparency, they shouldn’t be angry because there was nothing concrete at any time until Friday to say what was about to happen. Its best not to report based on speculation when its something this serious.
The decision to put a trade freeze and an RFA/UFA communication and contract freeze in place from August 1 onwards certainly complicated things for the upcoming season. However, it would be unfair for players to entertain offers from a team where it was unknown if they were going to play, and if they were, where they would be located. It would be unfair to players and teams to sign deals elsewhere and then (at the time) a potential dispersal draft changing the needs of each team significantly.
Also keep in mind, as much as the process dragged along for some time, it was in the best interest of the league, the owners and the players to find a way to keep the PCLC franchise active. Its harder to sell future expansion teams when you have a team fold. Teams hold less value when a team folds. Also there are 25 fewer jobs for players in the league when a team folds.
The Dispersal Draft
We now have a dispersal draft on September 2nd, just one hour before free agency opens up, in which each team is going to select one roster player from PCLC to add to their roster. The draft order will be based on last year’s results and will be the same order as the entry draft, if no picks had been traded. That makes the order Colorado, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatchewan, Ottawa, Rochester, Halifax, Georgia, San Diego, Toronto, Albany and Buffalo.
I conducted a mock draft for my own benefit some time ago, and a very interesting pattern emerges in picks 2 through 4. It is my understanding that teams can trade dispersal draft picks, and starting with picks 2 or 3, there is bound to be some fireworks. Keep in mind that a handful of former PCLC players are UFA’s that were not franchise tagged, so there is no point in drafting them. The biggest example of this is Callum Crawford.
Colorado, having the first pick, needs help up front. This makes the pick relatively straightforward; it will be one of Jon Donville or Will Malcolm. In my opinion, Donville is the better fit for the Mammoth, but this pick could really go either way.
Vegas holds the second pick, and they too need help up front, so whoever falls between Donville and Malcolm would be the obvious choice for the Desert Dogs. I think the Desert Dogs make this pick, however, because of the needs of the three teams behind them, Shawn Williams may be receiving phone calls to get the pick. The price would have to be high to give up a Donville or Malcolm.
Philadelphia currently holds the #3 dispersal pick. Philadelphia’s biggest need is also at forward, but there Vancouver (#4) and Calgary (#5), whose fates are tied in this dispersal draft. This all has to do with the other player in the top 3 available picks in this draft, goaltender Nick Damude.Â
Calgary has been informed that Christian Del Bianco will not sign with the Roughnecks, and if he’s not moved, that means he will likely be a holdout come the start of the season. If Calgary at #5 can move up to get Damude in the dispersal, that changes their situation significantly and gives them more leverage to deal Del Bianco when and where they want.
Vancouver is also in need of a starting goaltender, and they need Damude just as badly for one of two reasons. Either they pick up Damude and he is their starter, or he’s trade bait. The optimal landing spot for Del Bianco is in Vancouver, but Calgary won’t trade Del Bianco unless they get a starter as part of the return, or, they have another solution for a starter. Aden Walsh isn’t what Calgary is looking for. If Vancouver can pick up Damude, the Warriors now have the ammunition needed to make a deal with Calgary work for Del Bianco.
Whether Philly drafts at #3 is dependent upon a few things. One outside chance is that one of Donville or Malcolm is still available at #3. The second is that Paul Day wants Damude as his starter and would look to trade Zach Higgins instead. The third is that nobody has offered the right price just yet for the pick. Regardless, I don’t see Nick Damude falling below #3, which is why the intrigue of a trade in which Calgary or Vancouver moves up to #2 or #3 to get Damude is high in my opinion.
There were three other intriguing things further down the draft when I went through my mock draft process. The first was that its highly possible that Matt Hossack, the former captain of PCLC, gets picked 6th overall by Saskatchewan, the team that lost Hossack in the expansion draft to Panther City. Hossack is a UFA next summer, which is why he possibly falls this far, but it gives Saskatchewan a year to extend him out.
Similarly, around the time that Toronto picks, Phil Caputo might be the best available player, which could lead him back to the Rock.
The other player that I will be interested in seeing who lands Cam MacLeod. He’s having one heck of a President’s Cup once again and is one of the better backups in the league that can be your starter if needed. A potential landing spot here is Ottawa who still needs to solve their goaltending depth issues.
Free Agency
Free agency opens up at noon Eastern on Monday. Unlike the NHL and NBA, don’t expect a run on announcements on Monday. GM’s will still be adjusting that day due to the dispersal draft and what holes in their roster they still need to fill. It will take a few days for the big names to work their contracts out.
There are a handful of big names that are still out there in free agency that will attract offers. First up is Jeff Cornwall, who played with Calgary last season. It wouldn’t surprise many to see Vancouver pick him up.
Ryan Benesch is on the free agent list, but this one should be far simpler. It’s a case of whether Benesch decides to play again this year or not. If he comes back, I don’t see him playing anywhere but Halifax. I certainly hope he is back because watching him play last season like he was in his 20’s was a treat.
Halifax has a few other intriguing free agents in Randy Staats and Austin Shanks. The fact that neither was signed before July 31 suggests that they want to talk to other teams. That doesn’t prohibit them from signing back in Halifax, but it opens up a lot of possibilities for a number of teams.
Vegas’ big free agent is Rob Hellyer, their captain and the player that cost them their first round picks this year and next year. I was surprised that he wasn’t franchised prior to July 31. Zack Greer is also on the Desert Dogs’ list, but like Benesch, this is likely a situation where he either re-signs with Vegas or he retires.
Ottawa has two players in Stephen Keogh and Damon Edwards that are UFA’s. Keogh’s situation could be dependent upon whether the Black Bears sign Callum Crawford, an Ottawa area native. I would expect Edwards will receive a number of calls in a UFA class with very few top defensive options.
Ben McIntosh highlights Philly’s list of UFA’s. McIntosh is a BC native, but has been living in Philly for the last several years. If Philly loses him to free agency, it causes even more issues for them up front.
Dane Dobbie is the big name still unsigned in San Diego. Does he go back to the Seals, or is the opportunity there to reunite with Curt Malawsky in Vancouver? How close the relationship is between Malawsky and Dobbie is can’t be understated. I still recall interviewing both of them on Lacrosse Classified a few days after winning the 2019 championship, and when asked by Jumbo as to what this meant for each other, both Malawsky and Dobbie were in tears when describing their relationship.
Vancouver has two big name UFA’s in Keegan Bal and Brett Mydske. I can’t see Mydske going anywhere but Vancouver. Bal could be a different story and will garnish a lot of attention. If you put together a list of top NLL players of all time that were street free agents, Bal has to be on it.
All I can say is after a relatively slow news month for the NLL in August, buckle up lacrosse fans. The fireworks are about to begin.
Until next time…