For the first time in nearly three years, the National Lacrosse League Entry Draft is back to being in-person. The annual event will be held within the lovely confines of the historic The Carlu in downtown Toronto beginning at 2 p.m. ET and the first round will be available for the first time ever on TSN.ca and the TSN app in Canada and ESPN+ in the United States. All additional rounds will be covered in real time on the NLL social platforms.
And Rochester Knighthawks fans, you’ll want to tune in early.
Every pick we own going into Saturday 👀 pic.twitter.com/laOisY06v2
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) September 7, 2022
For the first time in franchise history, the Knighthawks have the first overall pick thanks to a blockbuster move made by general manager Dan Carey back in early July when Rochester acquired the first overall pick in the upcoming draft as well as forward Connor Fields and goaltender Riley Hutchcraft from the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. In return, Las Vegas received forward Charlie Bertrand, and Rochester’s first (second overall), fourth (74th overall, compensatory) and sixth-round (91st overall) selections in this year’s Draft.
STEPHEN STAMP OF INSIDE LACROSSE BREAKS DOWN THE TOP DRAFT ELIGIBLE PLAYERS“Having the first overall pick takes the question mark out of it,” stated Carey when asked how critical it was to have the first overall pick. “You get to decide who that player is instead of waiting for a player to be picked. So, we feel that pick is going to be a big part of our future and a big part of our success moving forward.”
In addition to the first overall selection, the Knighthawks have four other picks in the upcoming draft. One in the second round (25th overall), one in the third round (45th overall) and two in the fourth round (60th and 65th overall).
“A strategy for us going into this is trying to pick the best players possible that we think are going to have an impact or potential impact on our team and come to training camp to compete for a roster spot,” Carey commented when asked what the strategy was going into a draft where the organization is presented with five picks.
It’s no secret that the Knighthawks have struggled over the past couple of seasons, trying to find their bearings in the league as a new franchise from the bottom up. Although Rochester had a better season in 2021-22 compared to its inaugural in 2019-20, there’s still a lot of room for all-around improvement from offensive output to who will be tending the crease.
“We need to improve all over the place, from our offense and defense, to goaltending.”
Carey then continued with, “Depth is a big part of what’s going to help us have success. So, I think those later round picks are guys that we feel might be players that could come in and create a little bit more depth on our roster.”
Dan Carey talks strategy as we head into Saturday with five picks in the first four rounds. pic.twitter.com/Xnvn3qEGgq
— Rochester Knighthawks (@RocKnighthawks) September 7, 2022
So much goes into one night that can decide the future for so many individuals and teams. With the excitement that comes along with the draft night for players, there’s an added edge to this year’s event for everyone involved considering it’s been since 2019 the NLL Draft has been held in-person.
“It’ll be good to get everybody in the same room to be able to see the players go on to the stage and receive their jersey and hear their name called.”
Carey then finished with, “It’s a big part of what makes the draft special – is seeing and knowing that this is a dream come true for players.”
The full first round NLL Entry Draft order, as of August 23, pending pre-Draft transactions, is as follows:
- Rochester (from Las Vegas)
- Las Vegas (from Rochester)
- Vancouver
- New York
- Panther City
- Saskatchewan
- Georgia
- Albany (from Philadelphia)
- Halifax (from Albany)
- Calgary
- Georgia (from San Diego)
- Halifax
- Buffalo (from Toronto)
- Buffalo
- Colorado
- Las Vegas (additional compensatory selection)
- Albany (compensatory selection)
- Las Vegas (from Calgary) (compensatory selection)
- Buffalo (compensatory selection)
- Georgia (compensatory selection)
- Panther City (from Albany) (compensatory selection)
- San Diego (compensatory selection)
- Philadelphia (from Saskatchewan) (compensatory selection)
