The Top 100 NLL Players: 2024-25 Edition

With the National Lacrosse League’s 2024-25 regular season just about to officially start, The Lax Mag is pleased to present our annual NLL Top 100, where we count down today’s top players from 100 to 1, mostly based on last year’s success but also how we see them producing this upcoming season. More on our ranking criteria in a sec.

In 2022, we ranked Halifax Thunderbirds Hulk Graeme Hossack #1. Two years ago, while he was entering just his second season in the league, Jeff Teat took the top spot. Last season, we ranked NLL Cup and Mann Cup winner Dhane Smith the sport’s top star. This year, it’s the supremely skilled and successful Smith again, for many of the same reasons he was named number one last year, but other important ones as well.

Photo: Christian Bender

To create this best-of list, the following criteria was used to evaluate a player’s placement: career regular season and playoff resume with an emphasis on most recent NLL runs (which we tracked all season-long in our Top 30 Player Ranking too), reputation and reviews from pro-playing peers, expectations and potential for this upcoming season, and lastly, positional impact and overall value they provide their team. Any players that are confirmed or suspected of missing the entire year due to injury (or otherwise) are not ranked. This year that unfortunately includes the likes of Christian Del Bianco (hold out), Austin Staats (suspended + off-floor issues) and Tyler Pace (hold out), all three high-placing locks would have easily made this year’s list.

The San Diego Seals see the most players on this year’s 100 with ten players picked, while the Buffalo Bandits, Toronto Rock and Colorado Mammoth come in with nine players apiece, and the Albany FireWolves, Saskatchewan Rush, Halifax Thunderbirds and Vancouver Warriors just behind with eight each.

Below, see where all of those players and 31 others across the league rank in the league’s first and most definitive player ranking: The Lax Mag NLL Top 100.

Last Year (LY) Legend

NR = Not ranked last year
IN = Injured & not ranked last year
🔥 = Climbed 10-19 positions from last year + new players ranked 76-100
🔥🔥 = Climbed 20-29 positions from last year + new players ranked 51-75
🔥🔥🔥 = Climbed 30+ positions from last year + new players ranked 1-50

Age: 29
Season: 8
Position: Defense
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: Oakville, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥

He may not have the same defensive reputation as some of his teammates, never recognized with year-end accolades like other defensemen on this list, or owns sky-high stats like you’d expect from a top defender in this league, yet Justin Martin made this year’s 100. Why? Martin is a key contributor to Buffalo’s dynamic defensive unit and is easily one of their top pure defenders, excelling in high-end matchups reserved for, well, the league’s best defensemen. Go rewatch his playoffs from last year if you need further proof. 

Age: 29
Season: 6
Position: Defense
Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
From: Toronto, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥

Few defensemen in the NLL have owned as impressive a caused turnover-blocked shots slash like the one James Barclay has registered in back-to-back seasons (25/29 and 17/26). In fact, Barclay is one of only six players to have a 20/20 season since the league started tracking blocks in 2022. His lack of offensive upside (consecutive 100+ LB seasons though) and playing in little-talked-about Las Vegas keeps Barclay’s top defender talk to a minimum, but the Desert Dog defender has blossomed into as dependable a defenseman in recent seasons as there is today.

Age: 21
Season: 2
Position: Defense
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: Mission, BC
Last Year: NR 🔥

Brayden Laity was one of last year’s top pro rookies (we ranked him sixth, but you could have easily argued him a few spots higher), finished as our highest ranked defender in The Lax Mag’s Junior A Top 50 (seventh highest ranked player across Canada), and more than holds his own in a Vancouver Warriors defensive unit that might be the best in the NLL (allowed the fewest shots against during the regular season last year). Tough, physical, and defensively dominant, Laity has all the tools to a be a future defensive depth-chart leader and DPOTY in the NLL.

Age: 31
Season: 5
Position: Defense
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Ithaca, NY
Last Year: 93

Injuries kept Eli Gobrecht sidelined for a sizeable stretch to start San Diego’s season, limiting his overall impact last year, but the American defensemen still lands in The Lax Mag’s Top 100 for the third straight preseason. For good reason. Gobrecht is big, athletic, and physical AF, last year really limiting his sin-bin minutes served too. He is also one of many modern day American-born defensemen that played a pivotal role on Team USA’s historic silver-medal winning performance at the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica earlier this year. Expect a big season from the big man.  

Age: 26
Season: 5
Position: Goalie
Team: Rochester Knighthawks
From: Mississauga, ON
Last Year: 57

GOTY good enough for much of the 2023 season, lingering injury issues prevented Hartley from a repeat performance in Rochester last year. His Dominic Hasek-like heroics were on full display during the Knighthawks ridiculous 2-0, playoff-clinching final weekend of the season, followed up by a strong quarterfinals against the mighty Toronto Rock (9GA, .816SV%). At full health, the uber-flexible, finesse-forward Hartley’s unique skillset positions him to be one of this year’s best backstops during a season Rochester could and should compete near the top of the standings all season. Cue the full-season comeback… now. 

Age: 35
Season: 13
Position: Defense
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Whitby, ON
Last Year: 74

Moved to San Diego’s IR about a week before the season, it’s not expected that Cam Holding will miss much if any time this year. While playing alongside Brodie Merrill and now Kyle Rubisch in San Diego, Holding often gets overlooked as one of the league’s top defensive leaders, but he most definitely is. While Holding’s transitional impact isn’t what it used to be during his Denver days, Holding is a details-oriented, dependable defender that impacts every facet of San Diego’s defensive gameplan.

Age: 26
Season: 7
Position: Forward
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: Aldergrove, BC
Last Year: NR 🔥

While much was made of Vancouver’s suffocating defensive direction during their almost return to the playoffs, Ryan Martel’s breakout season was pretty significant to the team’s overall success too. Martel owned the league’s best shooting percentage of players who had a 100 or more looks (29.3%), all while adding 48 more points to his previous best season a year earlier (25 to 73 points). Plus, no 30-or-more goal scorer turned over the ball as seldomly as Martel did last year (28 TO), a retention ratio that rarely gets much mention, but should. 

Age: 30
Season: 9
Position: Transition
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: Richmond, BC
Last Year: NR 🔥

As defensively dependable as Jordan Gilles always is, his game often flies under the radar, but it was hard to miss just how meaningful his 2024 season was. Gilles set new single-season highs for points (13), loose balls (116), penalty minutes (31), plus put up decent defense-specific stats too (17 CTO, 12 BLK). He was the Colorado Mammoth’s pick for DPOTY consideration (over Robert Hope & Warren Jeffrey) and also earned an invite to Team Canada’s WLBC camp. Almost a decade in the league, and 2024 might have just been Jordan Gilles’ best to date.

Age: 26
Season: 4
Position: Transition
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: Sinking Spring, PA
Last Year: 78

Look, we slipped him a bit this year (as we say every year, other players exist), but Ryan Terefenko is still one of the top mid-20-year-old, pound-for-pound talents in the league with a ceiling that has not come close to being touched. Physical, fast and a lethal transitional weapon, Terefenko is part of Halifax’s core back-door player mix, and compliments their defensive unit really well.

Age: 30
Season: 9
Position: Defense
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: St. Catharines, ON
Last Year: 65

Over the last two years, Tyson Bell has seen a significant decline in his transitional shooting and point production (a former almost point per game defender, now averages just .39 shots an outing), but he is certainly still an integral piece of Halifax’s at times overwhelming defensive approach (few teams allowed as few shots as the Thunderbirds in 2024). Bell plays with bark, bite and brute force, and is one alleged bitch most players don’t have the balls to fuck with (on the floor at least).

Age: 31
Season: 7
Position: Transition
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: Burlington, ON
Last Year: 95

His full stat line probably isn’t quite sexy enough for TPOTY consideration, but Colton Watkinson’s leadership, overall defensive game, and transitional spark make him an invaluable asset in Albany. The influx of top young talent for the FireWolves was most definitely a big reason why the team stunned the league last season, but subtract the always reliable Watkinson from that roster, and not sure they make last year’s NLL Cup Finals without him. 

Age: 30
Season: 7
Position: Forward
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Courtice, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥

After coming off his highest statistical season last year (23G, 62A), and an anticipated increased role in Saskatchewan this year, expect big things from Austin Shanks in 2025, especially playing for his former Junior A coach. “I love Derek’s offence,” Shanks said earlier this offseason. “I’ve played it my whole life. It’s such a good offense where it’s not for one guy, it’s team ball. Anyone can score and anyone can pass.” While the Rush’s defense has long been lauded, Saskatchewan’s O hasn’t really received the respect it deserves during these playoff-MIA years (fair enough), but are shaping up to have a statement season of sorts this year.

Age: 26
Season: 4
Position: Forward/Transition
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Surrey, BC
Last Year: 97

Over three seasons in the NLL, Tre Leclaire is showcasing a skillset that is reminiscent of the likes of Challen Rogers, Bryan Cole and just a small handful of players that are equally as capable of crushing on either side of centre. His stat line is beyond balanced, he’s as athletic as he is skilled, and Leclaire’s overflowing toolbox allows him to impact a game in a variety of ways. He has blossomed into the type of multi-faceted pro player every team in the league is looking for right now. 

Age: 32
Season: 7
Position: Goalie
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: Six Nations, ON
Last Year: 75

Warren Hill’s regular season felt about what we’re used to seeing from the Halifax stopper since his outstanding, cut-short 2020 season, however, two highlights from last year kinda jump out. 1. He played more regular season minutes than ever before, meaning the team relied on their backup less than they have in a while. 2. Warren Hill’s quarterfinal performance versus the Toronto Rock was worthy of a win (54 SOG, 47 SV, 7.00 GAA, .870 SV%), something this franchise has been without since 2018.

Age: 28
Season: 6
Position: Forward
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: New Westminster, BC
Last Year: 45

Few players saw as significant a statistical decline in their game as Connor Robinson last year.

GOALS

2022: 42
2023: 35
2024: 18

POINTS

2022: 71
2023: 71
2024: 55

He averaged slightly more turnovers too. Plus, his clutch touch (Robinson was one of the most money scorers in 2022 and 2023) vanished as well. Look, 2024 was not a hot year for many Mammoth players. With a reloaded offense and a Cup-capable roster, expect Robinson to be back and much better than the story his stats tell from last season.

Age: 27
Season: 5
Position: Defense
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: Toronto, ON
Last Year: 72

Warren’s Jeffrey’s continued climb up the league-wide charts as one of today’s top pure defensive players was one of 2024’s low-key bright spots in Denver, the Colorado Mammoth finishing with one of the worst records in club history (5-13). The stifling defensive stalwart shaved significant time off his sin-bin minutes served, but continued to play hard-hitting, aggressive defensive lacrosse against the opposition’s top talent.

Age: 29
Season: 7
Position: Forward
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: Vancouver, BC
Last Year: 76

In our last two NLL Player Polls (2022 and 2024), we’ve determined that not too many players outside of Banditland and big Chase Fraser fans (click the links above for why). While his abrasive on-floor attitude likely ruffles some feathers, the fact that Fraser has been a bit of a lucky charm for the back-to-back NLL Cup winners in Buffalo probably doesn’t make him much of a fan favourite around the league. Fraser has 21 goals over the past two playoffs, which included scoring last year’s Cup-clincher against Albany. A two-time 30-goal scorer, Fraser has 40-goal potential, yep, even playing in Buffalo’s stacked forward cast.

Age: 36
Season: 13
Position: Forward
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: New Westminster, BC
Last Year: 66

While he bumped up his offensive numbers after a somewhat unsuccessful one-season stint in San Diego, Kevin Crowley is still significantly shy of the totals in put in New England or Philadelphia, and honestly, that’s alright. Crowley fills a fostering, fatherly role in Vancouver’s young and promising offense, one which topped 200 goals during last year’s regular season for the first time since that many-times-mentioned 2017 season (AKA the last time Vancouver made the playoffs). Subtract Crowley’s leadership, wisdom and vet savvies from last year’s season, and all that success the team experienced is likely not happening without him there. 

Age: 27
Season: 4
Position: Transition
Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
From: Bernardsville, NJ
Last Year: NR 🔥

Not only did Connor Kirst lead the Las Vegas transitional effort last year (12 goals in 18 games), he also hulked up his defensive stats from his standout sophomore season, adding 44LB, 11CTO and a couple extra blocks to a stat-line that is looking more and more TPOTY worthy. Plus, Kirst had a really strong showing for the Americans during the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships this past September, scoring nine times en route to Team USA’s first-ever silver at the tournament. Entering just his fourth season in the NLL, the Desert Dogs recently named Kirst their new captain heading into the 2025 season.

Age: 26
Season: 3
Position: Forward
Team: Rochester Knighthawks
From: Burlington, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥

After being traded from Georgia to Rochester early last year, Ryan Lanchbury had one of 2024’s true breakout campaigns while leading the Knighthawks in assists (go check, we’ll wait) and playing a significant supporting role behind offensive leaders Connor Fields and Ryan Smith. Lanchbury had the seventh highest assists per-game average anywhere in the NLL (go check the stats, do the math, we’ll still be here) and was 23rd overall in points per too. Already owning instant chemistry with former Burlington Chiefs brother Smith and coming off a Senior A summer season where he led Major Series Lacrosse in regular season point production, look for even bigger things from Lanchbury this winter.

Age: 28
Season: 6
Position: Defense
Team: Georgia Swarm
From: Caledon, ON
Last Year: 85

He wasn’t nearly as impactful feeding and finishing in transition as he was in 2023, but Adam Wiedemann is coming off arguably his strongest pure defensive season last year, and the stats certainly support that statement. Wiedemann set new single-season highs for loose balls (107, his third straight 100LB campaign), caused turnovers (20) and blocks (23) - so all three of the league’s key defensive digits when attempting to grade a player. In fact, as we recently pointed out, Wiedemann is one of only six players since 2022 (the first year the league started tracking blocks) to finish with at least 20 CTO and 20 BLK in one year.

Age: 37
Season: 14
Position: Forward
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: Six Nations, ON
Last Year: 62

His offensive production obviously isn’t what it once was, but Cody Jamieson remains one of the sport’s most reliable, respected and revered leaders, captaining the Six Nations Chiefs to another Mann Cup win this past summer. This year in Halifax, Jamieson will attempt to steer the youngest NLL roster he’s been a part of for quite some time (maybe ever), as the Thunderbirds reload with youth while offensively likely largely relying on the likes of Clarke Petterson, Randy Staats, and of course, Jamieson.

Age: 33
Season: 10
Position: Forward
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Port Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 55

No trade in NLL history may have messed up both a player’s and team’s fortunes more than then one that sent Ben McIntosh to Philadelphia from Saskatoon in the summer of 2020. Since then, the 40-goal scorer has seen virtually all of his significant offensive stats slide, last year’s 30 goals McIntosh’s lowest full-season total since entering the league. The Saskatchewan Rush went from a perennial powerhouse, to missing the playoffs in every season since McIntosh was dealt. Sure, other things have transpired over those three seasons, but still, that trade kicked their crashes off. Now in San Diego and playing in what appears to be a much different offensive dynamic than he was used to in Philly, 40 goals feels like a possibility again by one of the modern eras top power forwards.

Age: 32
Season: 13
Position: Goalie
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 67

While his stats stayed about the same or slipped a smidge compared to his last two seasons in San Diego, one big statistical difference (especially vs. 2023) was Frank Scigliano’s minutes played during his first season with the Rush. Scigliano topped 1,000 minutes for the first time in his career, and certainly must have felt considerable confidence from his coaches each night out. Always on the cusp of cracking the league’s elite group of top-end starters, a strong season in Saskatoon that sees the Rush playoff bound again should moves Scigliano up a few spots in the shot-stopping pecking order.

Age: 24
Season: 2
Position: Defense
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: Newmarket, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥

From The Lax Mag’s 2024 NLL Player Rankings: Rookie of the Year…

“One of this season’s silliest rookie single-game stat-lines came courtesy of Owen Grant when the Vancouver Warriors beat the Halifax Thunderbirds 15-13 in a critical late-season contest. The first-year defensive force scored once, had two helpers, scooped 13 loosies, caused two turnovers, sat in the sin bin for six minutes, and even beat Jake Withers at the dot twice while filling in on face-offs a bit that night. Absolutely absurd statistical stuff. Grant ranked as high as second amongst rookies in our weekly NLL Player Rankings throughout the year, probably just another good game away from jumping back to that placement (today’s second to fourth ranked rookies are extremely close in our Player Rankings calculations). The aggressively athletic and equally smart Grant led all rookies with 25 caused turnovers, which comes in as the sixth highest single-season total ever. The highest? Vancouver teammate Reid Bowering, who had 34 just two seasons ago.”

Age: 25
Season: 3
Position: Forward
Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
From: Milford, OH
Last Year: 90 🔥

The American’s surge of success continued last year, both in the NLL and at the World Lacrosse Box Championships. In 2024, we witnessed Jack Hannah develop his feeding ability even more, his patience and polished passing looking sharper than his rookie season. While he scored a few fewer in 2024, his even-strength game actually looked stronger, again, Hannah developing into an overall offensive threat. The USBOXLA alumnus led Team USA with 15 goals during the WLBC in Utica, an effort that most definitely helped the team snag their first-ever silver at the international tournament. A 30-goal season that will likely be nearing 90 points feels more than doable for Hannah in 2025.

Age: 26
Season: 2
Position: Defense
Team: Ottawa Black Bears
From: Burlington, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

We ranked Callum Jones as the second-best rookie in 2024 behind only eventual ROTY winner Alex Simmons in Albany. Jones is physical, fast, fearless and didn’t make many friends in 2024, pissing off his fair share of the opposition courtesy of his smash-mouth style of play. While his transitional impact was minimal (for now…he had over 100 points in 31 games at Norwich University), Jones put up strong defensive digits across the board in Year 1: 90 loose balls, 23 caused turnovers and 15 blocks. He also easily led the New York Riptide (now Ottawa Black Bears) and all NLL rookies with 47 penalty minutes, a total that sat him third in the entire NLL behind only Jake Withers (57) and Jackson Suboch (48).

Age: 29
Season: 5
Position: Forward
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: Easton, CT
Last Year: 99 🔥🔥

How the fuck has Connor Kelly played for four different teams in his first four full seasons in the NLL? That type of uneasy resume typically means he’s been bounced around the league, barely able to maintain a gig. Not in this case, not even close. Just check out his goal-scoring spike from season to season…

San Diego (2019) 9 goals in 7 games
New York (2020) 15 goals in 12 games
Albany (2023) 35 goals in 16 games
Colorado (2024) 39 goals in 15 games

Insert arrow-on-chart-rising emoji right here, copy it and paste it about a dozen more times because Connor Kelly’s stock is about as hot as he could hope, even though few around the league are talking about his impressive progression in such a short time. When you’re talking about today’s top Americans in the NLL, Kelly most definitely needs to come up in that conversation. 

Age: 28
Season: 7
Position: Forward
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: Kitchener, ON
Last Year: 83 🔥

In last year’s Top 100, we reminded everyone that even though Chris Cloutier had a lengthy IR stay in 2023, his goals-per-game average would have seen him hit 30 heaters in a single season for the first time. He scored exactly 30 for the Buffalo Bandits last year, all while owning an impressive shooting percentage (25.6%) and a turnover total players who score 30 usually don’t have (37). As we’ve repeatedly seen in our Clutch Kings analysis (he made our year-end leaderboard, again), Cloutier is a money goal scorer that often saves his best stuff for when it matters most.

Age: 27
Season: 5
Position: Transition
Team: Rochester Knighthawks
From: Port Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 60

Seemingly playing a more pure defensive role than maybe we’ve seen from him in the past, after back-to-back seasons putting up TPOTY-worthy offensive numbers, Rees saw those digits decline last year. With Rochester ramping up their defense and transitional attack in recent offseasons, the team has become more defensively dynamic, and Rees settling into a defense-first leader makes a lot of sense. An alternate with Team Canada this past summer, now with more support around him in Rochester, expect to hear Rees mentioned more and more for year-end accolades now that his role seems more defined than any previous season.

Age: 27
Season: 5
Position: Defense
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: St. Davids, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

Over the last two years, John Wagner has amassed over 200 loose balls, over 50 caused turnovers and nearly 30 blocks. Praised for his transitional skills due to his point-producing pop on the press, those just mentioned defensive digits are only bettered by a handful of defensemen anywhere in the league. Few D-first players have progressed in the pros at the rate at which Wagner has in recent seasons, capitalizing on the opportunities he was given in Las Vegas and now Albany, where Wagner played a pivotal role in helping the FireWolves through the playoffs and straight to the NLL Cup Finals. Wagner also proved a difference maker for Team USA, helping the Americans to their most impressive outing at the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica this past September.

Age: 30
Season: 8
Position: Defense
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Port Perry, ON
Last Year: 59

“We never wanted to lose him in the first place, right? It’s just the nature of expansion… He’s a guy we can put out there defensively (for any situation) and he’s going to help — penalty-kill, faceoffs, five-on-five, last-minute defence, all that stuff. He brings a bit of grit, too. He’s got some skill and he pushes the ball down the floor. We’re realy happy to have him. It makes us a deeper team.” – Derek Keenan, Saskatchewan Rush GM Derek Keenan (The Star Phoenix)

Age: 28
Season: 6
Position: Forward
Team: Ottawa Black Bears
From: Courtice, ON
Last Year: 71

While everyone was rightfully fussing over Connor Kearnan’s 50-point spike during that breakout 2022 season in New York, since then, there’s been even more to like about his game. Kearnan has not only shown that 2022 was far from a fluke, but he has a helluva lot more to give. His point totals have steadily improved each season since, last year even registering a career-high 52 helpers. Both last year and during Jeff Teat’s first three seasons in the league, Kearnan has been Teat’s most trusted scoring partner, the pair easily each other’s highest point-producing partner. Plus, last year Kearnan wasn’t that far off from joining the 30-60-90 Club (G-A-LB), finishing with a still very impressive 27/52/74 slash.

Age: 27
Season: 3
Position: Forward
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: Peterborough, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

Last year, Ethan Walker ranked as high as 19 in The Lax Mag’s in-season weekly NLL Player Rankings, spending nearly two-thirds of the season on our leaderboard. Walker saw a nearly 30-point increase in his production during Albany’s outstanding 2024 run, and like fellow opportunity smasher Connor Kearnan above him here, just missed out making the NLL’s exclusive 30-60-90 Club (32/53/89). With even more incoming firepower to Albany’s forward force, 60-70 assists seems like a guarantee this winter for Walker.

Age: 30
Season: 8
Position: Forward
Team: Philadelphia Wings
From: Calgary, AB
Last Year: 40

After signing a three-year deal with the Wings in the fall of 2023, Holden Cattoni would appear on Philadelphia’s active roster, injured reserve, short-term hold out list, and eventually the team’s physically unable to perform list during their most recent training camp. It’s a critical year for the Wings, who’ll need Cattoni fit and for sure firing near that 40-goal effort he had for Rochester just two seasons ago. Philadelphia, one of just five teams to fail finding 200 goals during the regular season last year, have played in just one playoff game (a loss in 2022), since returning to the league in 2019.

Age: 30
Season: 8
Position: Forward
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Oshawa, ON
Last Year: 82 🔥

In last year’s Top 100, we said, “This could be a big year for Ryan Keenan. Maybe his biggest yet. While much is being made of the new guys in Sask this year, Keenan is one of the very few returning names on offense, and should play a critical role while the Rush try to find chemistry & consistency up front.” Well, during the 2024 season, Captain Keenan posted career highs in goals (33), assists (57) and obviously points (90), all while quietly continuing to be one of the best off-ball forwards in the NLL. With the Rush’s offense looking deeper and more dynamic than they have in a number of seasons, expect Keenan to continue cranking up all those important offensive numbers.

Age: 32
Season: 13
Position: Forward
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Lions Head, ON
Last Year: 36

The Las Vegas Desert Dogs leader signed in San Diego with the Seals over the offseason, part of significant overhaul to the talented team’s offensive approach. While Hellyer’s 2024 points-per-game average was the lowest we’ve seen from the future NLL Hall of Famer (that’s still a thing, right?) since is very early years with the Rock, he’s seemingly taken on more of a facilitator role since leaving Toronto, his 126 helpers over the past two years amongst the highest consecutive season totals of Hellyer’s career. With the likes of Wes Berg, Ryan Benesch and Ben McIntosh ready to rip whenever a glimpse of the goal available, expect Hellyer to be amongst 2025’s top assist leaders.

Age: 30
Season: 7
Position: Forward
Team: Toronto Rock
From: Shelburne, ON
Last Year: 49

Although an injury derailed part of his season last year, Dan Craig still saw a slight per-game decline in his offensive stats, but has experienced a far sharper drop in those incredible defensive digits he owned during his breakout 2022 campaign, garnering him the rep as one of today’s top two-way forwards. Expect Craig, who has shot less and less since that huge 2022 season (shots/game: 9.22 in 2022, 7.00 in 2023, and 5.93 in 2024) to be back nearing those 30-60-90 totals (G-A-LB) we saw from him not so long ago.

Age: 25
Season: 2
Position: Forward
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: Puslinch, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

Here's what we had to say about Tye Kurtz in our year-end Rookie of the Year report, where we ranked the Albany first-year standout third across the league, “Not only did Tye Kurtz lead all rookies, forwards or otherwise (yes, more than any rookie defender), with 112 loose balls, that year-end total was only topped by three fellow NLL forwards, and they’re all kinda good: Connor Fields (158), Dhane Smith (119) and Lyle Thompson (115). He finished second behind FireWolves teammate Alex Simmons in rookie goals (32), assists (47) and points (79), those stats sitting just outside the Top 10 of single-season rookie records. He was as complete an offensive-rookie package as we’ve seen over the last several seasons, Kurtz probably finishing as high as second on many of the league’s official ROTY ballots submitted last week.” After that, Kurtz was a Team Canada WLBC camp invite, holding his own in tryouts and seemingly almost doing enough to land a spot on the squad. His time will come. 

Age: 24
Season: 3
Position: Goalie
Team: Georgia Swarm
From: Oshawa, ON
Last Year: 50

There was no sophomore slump for Brett Dobson between the Swarm’s pipes last year. His stats remained pretty level in comparison to his outstanding rookie season, even getting Georgia to the playoffs after a somewhat unexpected two-year absence. While some squads have struggled to replace outgoing, longtime tendies, Georgia has most definitely solidified their starting spot with Dobson, a modern-era keeper that combines both above-average athleticism with shot-stealing angles.

Age: 30
Season: 6
Position: Transition
Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
From: Hamilton, ON
Last Year: 58

It felt like maybe league voters were attempting to correct a wrong from a season earlier when Shane Simpson was included as a 2024 TPOTY finalists, his 2023 arguably the better of those two impressive seasons. Anyhow, while Simpson lacks the loose ball scoops that TPOTY almost always own, few transition up the floor (the type of player the award was originally intended to honour) with the same speed (likely the fastest player in the NLL), smarts and intent as Simpson, who was a favourite target of Christian Del Bianco’s wicked outlet pass in Calgary. Now in Las Vegas after allegedly hoping to play closer to home (he’s from Hamilton, ON, so…), Simpson’s darting up-floor drives are in high demand in his new home, the Desert Dogs one of the NLL’s least lethal threats in transition.

Age: 37
Season: 14
Position: Forward
Team: Toronto Rock
From: St. Catharines, ON
Last Year: 53

Corey Small’s nearly 80 goals during his two seasons in Toronto is the highest total of any Rock player. Leading the team with 38 goals last year, between front-door injuries and game-day inconsistencies, Small has emerged as maybe Toronto’s most trusted shot taker – not bad for one of this year’s eldest players in the league (looks like only six active players will have a higher age in their bio this year). While Tom Schreiber still obviously leads Toronto’s attack (when healthy), Small plays a pivotal role in the Rock’s offensive unit, and the numbers most definitely back that up.

Age: 26
Season: 3
Position: Forward
Team: Las Vegas Desert Dogs
From: Oakville, ON
Last Year: 46

While Jonathan Donville saw an unexpected 11-point decline from his impressive rookie point total two seasons ago, one area his game grew last year was the rate at which he finished when goals mattered most. Donville’s 27 goals in 2024 tied him for just 42nd in the league, yet he finished fourth in The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings analysis, where we track a player’s game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goals, then weigh them based on when they’re scored (first, second, third or fourth quarter, plus OT), but also in what on-floor situation they’re finished (even-strength, power-play or short-handed goals). Donville’s four game winners tied him for the league lead last year, also adding six game-tying and four go-ahead goals as well. It’s that clutch touch Las Vegas will need from Donville, the third-year franchise looking to improve on back-to-back five win seasons.

Age: 39
Season: 18
Position: Forward
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Kitchener, ON
Last Year: 69 🔥

Ryan Benesch’s 42 goals last year was his highest year-end total in almost a decade. For a player who will turn 40 a few months into the 2025 NLL regular season to be producing at that hellaciously high a rate is almost unheard of in this sport or any other. With 50-goal getter Austin Staats seemingly sidelined for much if not the entire season (TBD), the San Diego Seals will be looking to Benesch to repeat last year’s run, and maybe more, if the team hopes to seriously compete for an NLL Cup. In fact, with Brodie Merrill suspected to be unofficially retired, again, Benesch is now number one amongst active NLLers with the most games played and still in search of their first Cup (293). 

Age: 26
Season: 5
Position: Forward
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Victoria, BC
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

After being traded from the Toronto Rock to Saskatchewan Rush, Zach Manns was essentially being offered a co-leading man role in Saskatoon, meaning more minutes, looks and responsibility on a roster at the tail-end of a rebuild. Opportunity knocked and Manns more than capitalized, seeing his stats sky rocket with the Rush. His phenomenal 48-point increase is one of the highest we’ve seen from any player in recent years, Manns falling just shy of a 40-goal and 50-assist season. How important is it for Manns to get his name scribbled on the scoresheet in Sask? Very. In games he scored one or none last year, the Rush went just 1-7. When Manns had two or more in 2024, Saskatchewan was 7-3. Get the man the ball, boys! 

Age: 24
Season: Rookie
Position: Forward
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: Oshawa, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

Since first publishing the NLL Top 100 four seasons ago, not many rookies have made the list. Part of that is because our ranking system includes previous season analysis, which an incoming rookie would lack at this level. In order to rank as a rookie, you’d have to be an exceptional talent. The three that have previously made it were all members of 2022’s remarkable rookie class (includes the Top 100 rating that year): #99 Ryan Smith, #69 Reid Bowering and #11 Jeff Teat. Well, we’re adding a fourth this year in Dyson Williams. Why? “Dyson has had incredible success at every level: junior, NCAA and internationally with Canada. We know he’ll be an exceptional pro player…Dyson can play any style of offense, can create with and without the ball, and plays at a pace that will create an even more dynamic look for our group.” – Albany FireWolves Head Coach & GM Glenn Clark. We tend to agree.

Age: 33
Season: 12
Position: Goalie
Team: Ottawa Black Bears
From: Courtice, ON
Last Year: 38

Over the past three years, no goalie has had to contend with more shots, make more saves and get left out to dry more often than Zach Higgins experienced in Philadelphia – file that in your facts folder. No team has needed a pro-proven starting goalie more than the Ottawa Black Bears (PKA New York Riptide) over that same stretch. Last year the franchise finished a respectable ninth in the NLL in shots against (921), yet finished dead-ass last in goals allowed (234). Higgins was one of only three goalies last year to give up over 200 goals, but again, sees more than his fair share of rubber, often from optimal shooting spots. While Ottawa still needs some stability in other areas, if Higgins can give the Black Bears the same team-leading effort he has in Philly for the previous four seasons, the playoffs seem promising.

Age: 26
Season: 3
Position: Transition
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Brampton, ON
Last Year: 98 🔥🔥🔥

His balanced stat line after his rookie run was already really impressive, but last season Jake Boudreau told the Rush bench to hold his beer…

GOALS

2023: 6
2024: 9 (+3)

ASSISTS

2023: 7
2024: 18 (+11)

SHOOTING %

2023: 25%
2024: 36% (+11%)

LOOSE BALLS

2023: 94
2024: 132 (+38)

CAUSED TURNOVERS

2023: 12
2024: 25 (+13)

BLOCKS

2023: 3
2024: 10 (+7)

Honestly, that’s one of the most impressive second-year statistical spikes of anyone in the NLL, ever. Seriously. 

Age: 28
Season: 4
Position: Forward
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: Georgetown, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

Adam Charalambides’ first two years in Vancouver were alright. His third, however, was ridiculously impressive. The former fourth overall pick set career highs across almost his entire stat line, Charlambides’ 98-point breakout campaign one of 2024’s more memorable storylines. That 39-point increase in production saw Charalambides go from 44th in the league to 14th in 2024, second on the Vancouver roster behind only offensive leader, Keegan Bal. He was just six looises shy of cracking the 30-60-90 Club (G-A-LB), something only a super small handful of players achieve annually. Oh, he also led the Warriors in assists with 61, good enough for 13th in the entire NLL.

Age: 28
Season: 7
Position: Defense
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: Bradford, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥

Over the past two seasons, Albany’s Nick Chaykowsky has emerged as a top defensive defenseman, who at times can provide some secondary scoring pop on the FireWolves formidable offensive press. His high on-floor IQ, above-average athleticism, physical play and defensive-end leadership have gained Chaykowsky a rep as one of today’s premier defensive players. Chaykowsky’s 127 loosies ranked eighth amongst non-face-off takers in the NLL last year, not surprisingly a new single-season high for the defender. If he continues adding points to his stat line, like he did last year, expect to hear Chaykowsky’s name in top transitional talk soon too.

Age: 35
Season: 13
Position: Transition
Team: Georgia Swarm
From: Oakville, ON
Last Year: 79 🔥🔥

When analyzing last year’s top transitional players, we pulled the Top 100 per-game producers in the following statistical categories: goals, assists, loose ball, caused turnovers and blocks. While no single player ranked within the Top 100 in all five of those areas, three came up in four of them: Dhane Smith, Nick Weiss and Jordan MacIntosh. When it comes to versatility, dependability and reliability, few stack up to MacIntosh, who continues to thrive in any role he’s given, playing the majority of his minutes on the defensive side of the ball these days. Look, most want to show love to the next generation of players, but face it, Jordan MacIntosh still kicks serious ass in his mid 30s and the stats easily back that statement up.

Age: 28
Season: 6
Position: Defense
Team: Calgary Roughnecks
From: Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 42

Injuries kept Salama out of Calgary’s lineup for most of February, plus had him on the sidelines to close out last year’s season too. While Salama was on track to set new offensive highs for himself last year, his defensive digits (even by a per-game average) were on the decline. A quick, intelligent, two-steps ahead defender, Salama should see his transitional opportunities sore with Zach Currier and Shane Simpson surprisingly shipped out of Calgary over the offseason, all while taking an even bigger role as one of the Roughnecks’ main defensive (and team) leaders. This should be a big year for Salama.

Age: 32
Season: 11
Position: Defense
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: Port Hope, ON
Last Year: 48

We mentioned this statistical pull earlier in this year’s 100 (see #50) but it’s worth mentioning again… Nick Weiss was one of only three players last year to rank within the Top 100 in four of five important per-game statistical categories: goals, assists, loose ball, caused turnovers and blocks. Even though Weiss has been a regular in The Lax Mag’s Top 100, it also seems he rarely gets the league-wide recognition his game so desperately deserves. The defender’s 24 helpers crushed his previous best single-season total, Weiss also registering his fourth 100+ loosie season and third 20+ caused turnover one too.

Age: 34
Season: 12
Position: Forward
Team: Georgia Swarm
From: Bowmanville, ON
Last Year: 35

It wasn’t too many seasons ago that Shayne Jackson was voted NLL MVP. While he hasn’t matched those massive per-game statistical averages he dropped during the pandemic shortened 2020 season, Jackson is still one of the league’s most dependable and consistent point producers, last year logging his ninth consecutive 30+ goal season and his second consecutive 50+ assist campaign too. The Swarm’s helper leader from last year, Jackson has missed just a single start during his eleven years in the league, an unreal run that should easily eventually find him a spot in the NLL’s extremely exclusive Hall of Fame. With that said, the 34-year-old forward looks like he’s still got a good number of high-producing seasons to go.

Age: 35
Season: 12
Position: Forward
Team: Philadelphia Wings
From: Hamburg, NY
Last Year: 20

During a disappointing season for most in Philadelphia last year, Joey Resetarits too saw a small slide in his offensive production, still finishing at a respectable 18th in league point scoring (95). While Jeff Teat’s workload in New York is often quoted and criticized when analyzing offensive depth, after Mitch Jones and Resetarits in Philly, the team saw a significant drop in consistent point production past that high-producing pair in 2024. Finishing tied for eleventh in team goals last year, between a couple of hopeful bounce back seasons, plus the addition of vet Callum Crawford and American rookie Brennan O’Neill, Philadelphia’s front-door depth looks to be its strongest since the franchise returned to the league. All of that should benefit Resetarits, who has excelled both as a finisher and feeder over the course of his incredible career.

Age: 25
Season: 5
Position: Goalie
Team: Philadelphia Wings
From: Fonthill, ON
Last Year: 44

Last year, Nick Damude’s Panther City squad gave up the second-most shots during the NLL regular season (995), but impressively had the seventh lowest goals against team total (202). Wonder why? Now with the Philadelphia Wings, Damude finds himself on a roster that has “led” the league in shots allowed for the last three consecutive seasons, an unwanted repeating record that only one other team in league history has ever matched (Washington Stealth 2011-2013). Will Philly make it four in a row? With Damude there, will it even matter?

Age: 21
Season: 4
Position: Goalie
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Orangeville, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥🔥

At only 21, can Chris Origlieri already be considered one of the league’s top goaltenders? Well, if we’re going based on what the Orangeville-native netminer did last year, 100% yes. At the conclusion of last year’s regular season, we ranked Origlieri as 2024’s fourth best backstop, the league going one further and included him in the final three for Goalie of the Year consideration. Origlieri ranked within the Top 5 for GAA (9.79), save % (.793), wins (13) and GSAA (12.09). Where he didn’t rank as high were the high-workload areas we also examine (saves/minute, save/full game, etc.), but like we’ve mentioned with other goalies who have a solid defense in front of them, that’s kind of out of their control. In addition to a solid season with the Seals, Origlieri went on to do the same with the Victoria Shamrocks, helping lead the team to a Mann Cup appearance. So, is the still super-young Chris Origlieri already one of today’s top pro tendies? Yes.

Age: 33
Season: 10
Position: Defense
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: Peterborough, ON
Last Year: 41

From The Lax Mag’s 2024 NLL Player Rankings: Defensive Player of the Year…

Look, going from being 2x Cup Finalists and a recent Cup winner to the dead-ass-last place team in the league doesn’t leave a lot to be too positive about, but not so fast. Team captain Robert Hope is coming off his eighth straight 100+ loose ball season (133), his sixth 20+ caused turnover campaign (24), and he also led the league with a career-high 28 blocks, a singular stat that has been dictating success in this year’s playoffs. He was one of only four Colorado Mammoth players to play in all 18 of the team’s games and is easily one of the most relied on defenders in the league today. Never really recognized as one of this season’s top defenders likely due to the Mammoth’s underwhelming and injury-hindered results, Hope clearly has to be in 2024’s DPOTY conversation.

Age: 26
Season: 4
Position: Transition
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 17

After missing some time due to injury over the last two seasons and a decent decline in his ridiculously high defensive data from his record-breaking rookie year, it feels like most have really cooled off on Reid Bowering. Sure, we slide him down our list based on those areas of concern, but if you fell asleep on Reid Bowering stock, it’s probably time to wake TF up. The Warriors don’t have to depend on Bowering quite as much as they did during his stupendous rookie season in 2022, the team adding high-profile and dependable depth since then. Bowering remains the only player in league history to have multiple regular seasons with at least 20 caused turnovers and 20 blocked shots the same year. Bowering is still the lead lefty stick on Vancouver’s dynamic defensive unit, one that could be 2025’s absolute best by the looks of it. 

Age: 37
Season: 17
Position: Forward
Team: Calgary Roughnecks
From: Elora, ON
Last Year: 21

Dane Dobbie’s 31-point drop was one of last year’s largest season-to-season statistical slips, but just a year removed from a 101-point campaign and with new motivation in familiar surroundings, trust, Dobbie is far from done. Returning to Calgary with Curtis Dickson after the all-time duo departed San Diego (their complexion wasn’t meant for that SD sun anyways), the popular Roughneck pair will have more freedom to spark their former Saddledome success as the team continue to redo their roster under second-year Head Coach Josh Sanderson. Like his old man did in Toronto, Sanderson is reuniting a few former franchise greats in hopes of rebounding on last year’s hugely disappointing 8-10 record.

Age: 30
Season: 8
Position: Transition
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Surrey, BC
Last Year: 47

In The Lax Mag’s annual year-end positional analysis, we ranked Mike Messenger 2023’s eighth best transitional talent, last year moving him up to fourth. Although his offensive numbers move him into TPOTY talk, his straight defensive data could easily put him in DPOTY discussion too. Messenger’s 35 caused turnovers last year were bettered by only the three finalist for the NLL Defensive Player of the Year Award (Ryan Dilks, Mitch de Snoo and Brad Kri), while his loose balls (148) and blocked shots (16) were as good if not higher than that trio. If Rush rookie Jake Naso ends up playing an everyday role with the team, largely due to his dominance at the dot, freeing up Messenger from the face-off circle (he led the team with 315 FOA last year) could allow him to become even more defensively dominant.

Age: 31
Season: 8
Position: Transition
Team: Georgia Swarm
From: Oakville, ON
Last Year: 63 🔥🔥

Prior to the 2017 NLL season, Bryan Cole’s first, the Georgia Swarm’s fourth overall picked was asked about his expectations in Year 1. Cole responded, “I want to be able to play the role that my coaches need me to play. If that’s being a stay-at-home defender and trying to shut down my matchup and help with team defense, then that’s how I’ll play, and if they want me to be a guy that pushes in transition and stays on offense and tries to put up numbers on the offensive end, then that’s what I’ll do. I’m not really in the position to be making any demands, where I’ll be playing or how many numbers I’ll be putting up. I’m just excited to be a part of this team and try and be a competitor, put myself in position to make plays and kind of be a role player that the coaches need me to be.” Seven seasons later, Cole is doing just that for Georgia, and by “just that”, we mean, well, everything.

Age: 33
Season: 11
Position: Goalie
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: Orangeville, ON
Last Year: 15

Last year wasn’t the best season for the recent NLL Cup winner, Cup MVP (2022) and again Finalist (2023), Dillon Ward. In fact, statistically speaking, 2024 was one of the worst of Ward’s brilliant career during a season where everything seemed to go wrong for the once mighty Colorado Mammoth. Well, expect him and the rest of the Mammoth roster to return to the form that sent them to consecutive Finals, Ward specifically too seasoned a stopper not to bounce back from a single off year. It’s worth noting that for the first time since 2019, Ward will not have reliable backup Tyler Carlson behind him, the Mammoth instead going with a pair of promising rookies in Nate Whittom (Mimico Mountaineers) and Ethan Robertson (Six Nations Arrows) from the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League.

Age: 29
Season: 6
Position: Transition
Team: Rochester Knighthawks
From: Oshawa, ON
Last Year: 51 🔥

A Top 5 ranked two-way player in The Lax Mag’s year-end positional analysis the past two seasons, Matt Gilray’s significant offensive and defensive statistical spikes over the last two years has catapulted him into legitimate TPOTY talk. Defensively alone, Gilray has been a huge asset since arriving in Rochester via a somewhat surprising trade by Buffalo back at the 2020 NLL Entry Draft. His 328 loose balls and 50 caused turnovers over the last two years make for a defensive ratio few pure defensive players around the league can compare to. Plus, with nearly 50 points during that same two-year spread, Gilray has proven equally as valuable pressing up the floor. And since we mentioned it earlier, what does that Gilray trade between bitter rivals Rochester and Buffalo look like today…

Rochester got: Matt Gilrary and the 54th overall pick in the 2020 draft (Mitch Ogilvie)

Buffalo got: 19th overall pick in the 2020 draft (Sam La Roue), 3rd overall pick in the 2021 draft (Tehoka Nanticoke), and the 29th overall pick in the 2023 draft (which was later traded along with Dan Lintner to Saskatchewan for Justin Robinson and the 13th overall pick in the 2021 draft, which was later traded along with a 2nd round pick in the 2022 draft to San Diego for Connor Fields)

Age: 28
Season: 5
Position: Forward
Team: Georgia Swarm
From: Oakville, ON
Last Year: 28

While he lost 19 points from that outstanding 106-point breakout season from 2023 to last year, Andrew Kew still had a helluva offensive haul in 2024, most notably the quality of goals he was getting. Kew finished third in The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings analysis, where we track a player’s game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goals, then weigh them based on when they’re scored (first, second, third or fourth quarter, plus OT), but also in what on-floor situation they’re finished (even-strength, power-play or short-handed goals). Part of that was due to Kew co-leading the league with four game-winning goals, but better yet, three of them were finished in the fourth quarter, another in OT. In fact, half of Kew’s goals that were included in our clutch calculations came in the fourth frame.

Age: 30
Season: 6
Position: Forward
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: Newmarket, ON
Last Year: IR

If we graded Ryan Lee based on the last time we saw him at full strength, he could easily land in The 100’s Top 10, no questions asked. The thing is, Lee has not had a life bar close to 100% for a full season in a bit, last year missing the entire NLL season due to offseason surgery to address complications the forward experienced after an initial surgery on is injured knee a season earlier. He returns to a Mammoth roster that is coming off an all-time bad season with Lee (and others) sidelined last year, the team also adding standout Will Malcom with the #1 pick in the Panther City Lacrosse Club Dispersal Draft. Healthy, healed and hopeful, Lee could script an all-time comeback story this season.

Age: 36
Season: 14
Position: Forward
Team: Calgary Roughnecks
From: Port Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 13

A stint on the IR in San Diego and a decline in his offensive production has put Curtis Dickson on milk cartons in similar lists and previews around the league, but not so fast. Missing five games, Dickson’s 64 points placed him at just 46th across the NLL, but his nearly 5.00 points-per-game 20 spaces higher on the league-wide leaderboard. In fact, his nightly averages across those 13 games he played last year would have had Dickson close to 30-60-90 Club range (G-A-LB), a single-season accomplishment not many NLLers ever come close to matching. Dickson and long-time teammate Dane Dobbie, who are both back in Calgary this winter, combined for nearly half of San Diego’s 31 playoff goals in 2024. If you’ve written off Dickson, Dobbie or both, better get your pen out, because the pair is probably a little pissed and ready to resume the success they’ve always had in a Roughencks sweater.

Age: 40
Season: 19
Position: Forward
Team: Philadelphia Wings
From: Ottawa, ON
Last Year: 37

Callum Crawford was either inside or just hovering outside of the Top 10 of The Lax Mag’s in-season Player Rankings all of last year. Don’t let his salt and pepper flow fool you, Crawford is still playing with piss and vinegar, whether you’re willing to admit it or not. Can 40-year-old, Philly-bound Callum Crawford still go? Well, last year, only five players averaged more goals per game than Crawford’s 2.63: Jeff Teat (3.22), Connor Fields (3.11), Josh Byrne (2.94), Austin Staats (2.78) and Keegan Bal (2.72). Only eight players had a higher points-per-game average than Callum’s 5.81: Byrne (7.50), Dhane Smith (7.44), Teat (7.22), Fields (6.67), Mitch Jones (6.17), Wes Berg (6.00), Tom Schreiber (5.85) and Jesse King (5.83). Can he still go? Seems so, and at the rate he’s still producing, most of the 20- and 30-year-olds in the league would consider themselves lucky to be at Crawford’s level right now.

Age: 34
Season: 12
Position: Forward
Team: Toronto Rock
From: Oshawa, ON
Last Year: 29

Mark Matthews more than held his own in Toronto last year. In fact, with Tom Schreiber unavailable until Week 9, Matthews did a nice job leading the Rock offense, which also saw Toronto 5-0 over the first eight weeks of the season. Two less noticeable things also statistically stood out for Matthews last year. In addition to giving the ball away 24 fewer times versus his last season in Sask, Matthews also did really well in The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings analysis, where the quality of a goal (when in a game it’s score, what on-floor situation it’s scored in, etc.) means much more than simply quantity. An injury prevented Matthews from having that same impact during Toronto’s playoffs, the Rock of course falling to the Buffalo Bandits for a fourth straight postseason.

Age: 32
Season: 8
Position: Forward
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: Six Nations, ON
Last Year: 24

When Randy Staats is healthy, the Halifax Thunderbirds have one of the most supremely skilled, needle-threading playmakers and high-scoring shooters on the planet. When Staats is sidelined, like he was last year while bouncing back and forth from the PUP/IR to the team’s active roster, the Thunderbirds just aren’t the same squad. Even with key players stepping up last year, they’re obviously that much better with Staats feeding and firing on the floor. After a disappointing playoff performance, where Staats was held scoreless against Albany in the quarters, he’d go on to win a Mann Cup with the Six Nations Chiefs and lead the Haudenosaunee in scoring a the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica. With a few key forwards departing and Halifax sporting a younger roster than they have in seemingly forever, having a successful Staats available for most if not all 18 games this regular season feels like a really legit requirement if they hope to find that elusive post-season success. 

Age: 25
Season: 2
Position: Forward
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: Smithville, ON
Last Year: NR 🔥🔥🔥

From The Lax Mag’s 2024 NLL Player Rankings: Rookie of the Year…

On pace to break a handful rookie records during his tremendous early-season output, while Alex Simmons’ production slowed somewhat during Albany’s L-ing streaks (yes, read that as Simmons being ridiculously relied on), his end-of-season statistical totals were still some of the highest we’ve seen from a first-year player in the NLL. Take a look at where Simmons’ rookie stats rank all-time below, plus the very few rookies that placed higher than him.

GOALS

Paul Gait, Detroit (1991) 47
Ryan Painter, Ottawa (2002) 45
Mark Matthews, Edmonton (2013) 38
Alex Simmons, Albany (2014) 38

ASSISTS

Jeff Teat, New York (2022) 71
Jonathan Donville, Panther City (2023) 67
Tom Schreiber, Toronto (2017) 61
Randy Staats, Georgia (2016) 59
Patrick Dodds, Panther City (2022) 58
Alex Simmons, Albany (2024) 58

POINTS

Jeff Teat, New York (2022) 108
Alex Simmons, Albany (2024) 96

Not bad, huh? Simmons was the only rookie to rank in our weekly in-season Top 30 this year, and was there from start to finish, even within our Top 10 early on. He also had a helluva complete stat line, falling just short of becoming only the second rookie in league history to finish with 30 goals, 60 assists and 90 loose balls (38/58/85) – Teat is still the only one to pull that off in his first year. How much did Albany rely on Simmons’ success up front? In games he scored a hat-trick, the FireWolves went 6-0. In regular season results they were on the wrong end, Simmons averaged just 1.3 goals per game.

Age: 34
Season: 13
Position: Defense
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: Hamilton, ON
Last Year: 43 🔥

Leaving Saskatoon for Vancouver, most likely felt it was an opportunity for Ryan Dilks to provide invaluable leadership to a young Warriors defensive unit trying to figure things out under new Head Coach Curt Malawsky. Well, that did happen, but so did Dilks kind of reinventing himself, seeing a significant surge in all of his defensive stats versus his final year running out the back door for the Rush. Dilks added an additional 31 loosies to his stat line, doubled his blocked shots to 14, and posted a ridiculous 46 caused turnovers, a number he hadn’t been near in almost a decade. Dilks’ 51 forced fumbles in 2016 ranks as the third highest single-season sum all time, while his 46 from last year are the fifth beset ever. Both of those year, including last year, he was voted NLL DPOTY.

Age: 31
Season: 10
Position: Forward
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: Surrey, BC
Last Year: 30

With Ryan Lee out and more Mammoth issues arising the further into 2024 we went, Eli McLaughlin delivered his best regular season yet. While others in Denver saw their stat line sag last year, McLaughlin’s numbers were career highs almost across the board: 43G, 50A, 209 shots, 74LB and even 7CTO. Although McLaughlin didn’t finish as high as he normally does in our Clutch Kings analysis (largely because Colorado struggled to compete), last year provided him the opportunity to grow into an even more complete offensive assassin. McLaughlin headed east during this year’s Senior A summer season, somewhat surprisingly signing with the Six Nations Chiefs. He’d go on to co-lead the Mann Cup in goals (10), playing a pivotal role in in capturing the national title with his new team. McLaughlin would also finish second in scoring at the World Lacrosse Box Championship for the Haudenosaunee (10G, 19A), the team finishing third behind Canada and the United States.

Age: 26
Season: 7
Position: Defense
Team: Toronto Rock
From: St. Catharines, ON
Last Year: IR

While the Toronto Rock stayed really quiet during this year’s free agency, the return of Latrell Harris to the team’s lineup far outweighs any new available name they could have inked. Lost to a season-ending knee injury two summers ago, Harris was forced to watch Toronto’s 2024 from the press box, their season again ending in the Cup semis to Buffalo for a fourth straight playoffs. The Rock run an up-tempo transition game, and Harris is a critical player in that explosive offensive press. More importantly, Harris is a beast in the backend, always good for at least 100 loosies, 25 caused turnovers and double-digit blocks too. 2023’s DPOTY had a strong rehab at the Toronto Rock Sports Medicine & Wellness Centre, returned and looked good while playing for Team Canada at the World Lacrosse Box Championships, and showed well during Toronto’s training camp too. If he has the comeback season the team hopes he will this winter, move Harris up ten, hell, even 20 spots on this list easily. 

Age: 30
Season: 6
Position: Transition
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: Port Elgin, ON
Last Year: 32

Put Ian MacKay in the same do-everything-and-anything category as Challen Rogers and Zach Currier, because over the last three years in Banditland, MacKay has done it all and then some. Playing more defensive minutes last year versus 2023, when he was filling in for a host of up-front injuries, MacKay is a pestering pain in the ass in Buffalo’s own end, his coverage about as coarse as sandpaper and ready to sprint up the floor on every shift if the space is there. MacKay is the Bandits’ ultimate X factor, his transitional crease-crashing goals leaving the opposition speechless and silencing any notion of a comeback. While he can effectively play set shifts on either end of the floor, MacKay is most menacing playing transition with an old school flare… jacking you up in his own end, and then punking you even further while pressing up the floor and finding the back of the net. Banditland goes bananas when MacKay makes that happen. 

Age: 36
Season: 14
Position: Defense
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Brampton, ON
Last Year: 16

Even though it’s been about a decade since Kyle Rubisch won his most recent Defensive Player of the Year Award, he is still easily one of the league’s top pure defenders, year-end hardware or not. While San Diego’s shots and goals against actually went up slightly after Rubisch joined the team, his addition has clearly added a new dynamic to the Seals defensive unit. One of only a handful of defensemen to play a full 18-game schedule in San Diego last year, at 36 years old, Rubisch still has a lot left in the tank. It is rare for a defender to play with the same mauling and suffocating style as Rubisch does, but also have an on-floor IQ that could get him a membership at Mensa too. Rubisch signed in San Diego to win another Cup. Can he get them there this year?

Age: 27
Season: 5
Position: Forward
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: Toronto, ON
Last Year: 52 🔥🔥

Here are Clarke Petterson’s point totals after his last three seasons…

2022: 72 – Good
2023: 84 – Great
2024: 104 – GTFO-level growth

Petterson tacked on an extra 20 points last year, elevating his game while Randy Staats missed much of last season in Halifax. Hitting 40 goals for the first time after four years in the league, Petterson also achieved 30-60-90 Club status: 40G, 64A and 91LB. While Staats is back, the team did lose 79 goals (35% of their total offense) with Ryan Benesch and Austin Shanks lost via free agency and the release of impressive 2024 rookie Aaron Woods. Plus, although he missed all of last year due to injury, the team also dealt Eric Fannell (29 goals in 2023) to Albany. So, in other words, Petterson will again have plenty of opportunity to continue is upward trajectory while the Thunderbirds look to find a lot of lost goals from a season ago.

Age: 26
Season: 4
Position: Forward
Team: Rochester Knighthawks
From: Burlington, ON
Last Year: 61 🔥🔥🔥

Ryan Smith is easily one of The 100’s hottest risers, moving up a massive 38 spots after a tremendous season with the Rochester Knighthawks last year. During The Lax Mag’s in-season NLL Player Rankings, Smith was a Top 10 regular, sitting as high as fifth and never dropping lower than 15th. His size, skill, rocketing release and off-ball ability make Smith one of today’s top power forwards. He rarely gets dinged with penalties (didn’t serve a single sin bin minute during his first two years), has way above-average retention stats for a player that shoots and handles the ball as often as him, and Smith has also had considerable success on Rochester’s power-play unit too.

Age: 32
Season: 11
Position: Defense
Team: Toronto Rock
From: Acton, ON
Last Year: 27

Although it makes little to no sense, if Brad Kri scored more goals, he’d likely have bagged one or even two DPOTY Awards by now. Kri has easily been one of if not the best pure defensive talents over the past three seasons, has been nominated for the league’s top defensive honour, but remains a runner up. Last year, Kri was one of only two full-time players in the entire league whose loose balls, caused turnovers and blocks per-game averages ranked Top 20. His omission from Team Canada’s roster at the World Lacrosse Box Championships, not even named as an alternate, was laughable and ludicrous. While the Rock have experienced key injuries in their own end over the last few seasons, it’s been Kri, who ironically starts the 2025 season on Toronto’s PUP, that has remained their most reliable defensive defenseman over that time. 

Age: 30
Season: 8
Position: Transition
Team: Toronto Rock
From: Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 8

One off-ish year and everyone, well, league general managers and coaches at least, seem to forget who you are. Challen Rogers shockingly missed the NLL’s recent Top 5 Transition Players list, a rundown determined by those previously mentioned franchise leaders via vote. On the other hand, when The Lax Mag asked players who today’s most versatile player is in our NLL Player Poll, Rogers was the most mentioned response. Admittedly, Rogers, who missed considerable time due to injury last year (was on the IR from Feb. 21 to Apr. 5), had a bit of a down year by his high-end standards, seeing a slip in most of his O numbers and loose balls. Defensively, however, his caused turnovers and blocked shots averages likely would have seen him set new personal bests over a full 18. Now that everyone seems to have exhausted themselves debating what end of the bench Rogers should be coming out of, expect Rogers to play a majority of the upcoming season as a defensemen that has the freedom to stay and play via the press – the exact role he built his high-end rep on as one of the league’s top transitional terrors. With that said, hours before the start of the Rock’s upcoming season, the team moved their captain to the IR with a lower-body injury.

Age: 32
Season: 8
Position: Forward
Team: Toronto Rock
From: East Meadow, NY
Last Year: 9

On career rep and past personal results alone, we should probably have Tom Schreiber ten spots or so higher. We don’t. Why? Schreiber has missed nearly 20% of Toronto’s regular season games due to injury over his first seven seasons in the league. Last year, he was MIA for their first five, the Rock going 5-0 with their leading scorer sidelined. There was serious concern that Schreiber would again miss time to start the upcoming season after sustaining a fractured clavicle, but appears ready to go when the Rock open on Nov. 29 against the Ottawa Black Bears. Without question, when Schreiber is fully fit, few can compare to his overall offensive game, heart, hustle and crazy-high compete level. If Schreiber can stay healthy and for just the fourth time finish with a full 18 games during the regular season, expect an MVP-level performance from Toronto’s Captain America.

Age: 35
Season: 15
Position: Defense
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: St. Catharines, ON
Last Year: 23

An NLL Cup win, Mann Cup victory and gold medal glory with Team Canada, Steve Priolo had an exceptional year captaining two of those three trophy-winning teams. In fact, at 35 years old and with 15 pro seasons under his belt, Priolo may actually be playing some of the best lacrosse of his career right now, looking every bit as defensively dominant as he did a decade ago. Physical, feared and still a serious threat in transition, Priolo’s gas tank is fixed on full, the St. Catharines scrapper showing no signs of slowing down.

Age: 30
Season: 7
Position: Transition
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Peterborough, ON
Last Year: 5

After two of the most statistically significant TPOTY runs over the previous two seasons, Zach Currier’s offensive-press scoring simply vanished in 2024 (scored 25 times during the 2022 and 2023 regular seasons, just once all of last year), his defensive stats also sustaining a sizeable dent too. Whether it was just a rare off season or Currier’s style clashing with the new management’s approach, his stat line would suggest that last year was one of his worst since going pro in 2018. Now in San Diego after a blockbuster trade between the Roughnecks and Seals, Currier’s new crew is in desperate need of a defensemen that can counter on their press, and punish the opposition during that transition too. It’s kind of a match made in heaven. Expect Currier to bounce back to his brilliant self on both sides of centre in San Diego, as the Seals again attempt to get the NLL Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Age: 32
Season: 9
Position: Defense
Team: Toronto Rock
From: Oshawa, ON
Last Year: 22

For the second time in three seasons, Mitch de Snoo was The Lax Mag’s year-end pick as 2024’s top defenseman. His offensive and defensive numbers are typically high and balanced enough for TPOTY talk too (teams are only allowed to nominate a player in one “position”, no matter how many roles they actually fulfill for their franchise…Shohei Ohtani is lucky he doesn’t play pro lax). Missing one game last year, de Snoo’s end-of-season stats (especially his per-game ones) were arguably even more impressive than what he totaled during his DPOTY campaign in 2022. He was a finalist last year for the league, but not the award’s winner.

Age: 28
Season: 8
Position: Goalie
Team: Albany FireWolves
From: Ohsweken, ON
Last Year: 54 🔥🔥🔥

As electric as Albany’s young group was last year, subtract Doug Jamieson from the equation, and there is no way the FireWolves are featured in 2024’s NLL Finals. During Albany’s recent roster rebuild (maybe the fastest one in league history), Jamieson would have brought in a handsome haul via trade, but he was one player GM/HC Glenn Clark was adamant wasn’t going anywhere. Well played. Last year, Jamieson shaved off a significant 2.66 off his previous season’s GAA, added three full points to his save percentage, and flipped his W-L record from a terrible 3-12 to an incredible 11-5. “Dougie is the backbone of our group,” Clark said after the team re-signed Jamieson over the offseason. “He has always been an elite goalie in this league and is maturing into an important part of our leadership group. We’re excited to have Dougie signed for three more years. Our goal is to win a championship and Dougie is an integral part of that pathway.”

Age: 32
Season: 8
Position: Forward
Team: Vancouver Warriors
From: Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 33 🔥

After Vancouver’s first four games last year, Keegan Bal was averaging just a single goal a game, paltry per-game production that would have seen him with all of 18 over a full season. From there, Bal would flip his goal-scoring switch, average 3.39 goals per during the Warriors next 13. His 18 special-team snipes (15PPG and 3SHG) led the league last year, and was also the most he’s ever put up in a single regular season. Since the pandemic, Bal has finished with 99, 87 and last year 104 points, his biggest growth in 2024 coming in the goal scoring department, adding almost a full extra goal per game to his stat line. The Warrior’s high-scoring forward comes into 2025 leading the team’s most polished and productive offensive unit since the Canucks took over. After eight seasons in the league, Bal has not played a single playoff game. That seems likely to change this year.

Age: 33
Season: 11
Position: Forward
Team: Saskatchewan Rush
From: Coquitlam, BC
Last Year: 14

It wasn’t until Week 11 that Robert Church cracked our in-season weekly Top 30 NLL Player Rankings last year, slowly creeping up our leaderboard and ending 2024 just outside of the list’s Top 10. Church’s 96 goals over the past two seasons are topped by only Jeff Teat (114) and Connor Fields (108), also standing as one of the highest two-year totals in NLL history. While the Saskatchewan Rush have seen significant roster redoing in recent seasons, Church has remained and continues to be the backbone of their offense. He is one of only three players that has remained with the team since their last Cup win in 2017 (Mike Messenger and Ryan Keenan are the others, however, Matt Hossack was recently reacquired as well), and will be looked to this year to guide this group back to the playoffs, as the Rush continue to battle back to consistent Cup-contending status.

Age: 30
Season: 7
Position: Defense
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: Peterborough, ON
Last Year: 31 🔥

The last player to combine the same multi-faceted skillset as Jake Withers was likely should-be HOFer Geoff Snider, both players excelling immensely at the face-off circle, playing critical minutes defensively, and also not afraid to get their hands dirty when things get physical. While he is not the pro lax pugilist Snider was (is anyone?), defensively Withers is a slightly stronger asset in Halifax, the Thunderbirds siccing their prized FO freak on the opposition’s first- or second-rated forward (Graeme Hossack usually gets the other). Last year’s TPOTY winner, Withers is the first (and actually only other) player since Andrew Suitor, his current assistant coach in Halifax, to lead the league in penalty minutes (57) while still being honoured with a year-end award (Suitor won the TPOTY in 2012, and led the league with 74 PIM). Physical, fearless and always fun to watch, Withers is they type of dot dominator any team would kill for in today’s game.

Age: 32
Season: 9
Position: Defense
Team: Halifax Thunderbirds
From: Port Perry, ON
Last Year: 19

From The Lax Mag’s 2024 NLL Player Rankings: Defensive Player of the Year…

His offensive efficiency saw a bit of a bump back to what we’re used to seeing from Graeme Hossack (his 17 points this year were the third highest of his career), but it’s obviously what he does defensively that sets Hossack apart from most others across the league. We see far fewer full-on body checks like was the norm through the 90s and early 00s, but the league office musta missed sending that memo to Hossack, who again had some of the season’s most hellacious hits. Entering our season-long weekly Top 30 in Week 13, Hossack stayed on our countdown for the rest of the year, one of just a handful of defensive specialists whose player rankings point total had him that high for that long. While he shares the team’s defensive leadership role with Jake Withers, our pick for 2024’s TOPTY, the entire Halifax defensive unit doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the work they do. Why? Below are the number of shots each team saw this year, Halifax third behind only the San Diego Seals and Vancouver Warriors. Hossack led Halifax with 19 blocks this year, just a single CTO away (27) from matching Withers for the team lead too.

Vancouver - 847
San Diego - 856
Halifax - 861
Toronto - 876
Georgia - 901
Saskatchewan - 909
Colorado - 912
Rochester - 913
New York - 921
Albany - 931
Calgary - 939
Las Vegas - 940
Buffalo - 954
Panther City - 995
Philadelphia - 1,024

Source: NLLStats.com

Age: 24
Season: 5
Position: Forward
Team: Colorado Mammoth
From: New Westminster, BC
Last Year: 26 🔥

Over the previous two years in Panther City, Will Malcom has put up 200 points, has had back-to-back 30-60-90 Club seasons (G-A-LB), and has quickly made a name for himself as one of the NLL’s most complete and versatile offensive players. The Colorado Mammoth must have been drooling a puddle at the prospect of getting Malcom back in Denver leading up to the PCLC Dispersal Draft (he played eight games there during his rookie season), a perfect piece of the puzzle on an offense that is finally at full strength again. Malcom also again ranked high in The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings analysis, his nine go-ahead goals last year second to only Rochester’s Connor Fields who had ten. His darting footwork make him an elusive target to leash, but Malcom can also rip from range. An unselfish playmaker who has averaged only a single solitary minute in the box over his first four seasons in the league, now that Malcom is operating in the Loud House (AKA Ball Arena) and not surrounded by empty seats in Fort Worth, hopefully his unbelievable game garners the league-wide attention it deserves.

Age: 36
Season: 15
Position: Goalie
Team: Toronto Rock
From: Orangeville, ON
Last Year: 25 🔥

We analyzed Nick Rose’s season to death last year, and came up with a pretty concrete conclusion based on how this league has voted in the past. Not only were Rose’s full-season numbers worthy of easily being named the NLL’s top netminder, historical voting trends and a helluva lot of netminding number crunching told us Rose should have also been last year’s MVP, his 2024 totals stacking up to and more often surpassing what goalie MVPs Steve Dietrich and Christian Del Bianco did during their most valuable campaigns. While social media experts quickly faulted Rose for not doing enough to finally get the Rock back to the NLL Finals, the team again eliminated by the Buffalo Bandits in the semis, Rose’s playoff stats were actually even stronger than what he did during the regular season.

Age: 42
Season: 19
Position: Goalie
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: St. Catharines, ON
Last Year: 6

He wasn’t one of our top-rated goalies during the regular season. For only the fifth time since 2010, he wasn’t a finalist for the league’s GOTY Award either. He actually ranked really low when it came to GAA and save percentage in 2024. So why the hell is Matt Vinc listed ninth overall in this year’s 100 and sits as our highest ranked goalie? Because when the games matter most, Matt Vinc remains unflappable, unbothered and unbeatable, leading the Buffalo Bandits to back-to-back titles last year with a playoff performance for the ages. Sure, his regular-season stats were well below what we’re used to seeing from Vinc, but the Bandits also gave up the third most shots last year. Missing two games last season due to injury, Buffalo lost them both with Vinc out. When he returned, the team would go on an 11-1 regular season + playoff run that of course ended with Vinc and the Bandits hoisting the NLL Cup for a second straight season. So, again, why is Vinc ranked this high? Because any backstop in the league would trade their personal accolades from a season ago to be the difference-making, never-nervous, game-saving and Cup-clinching goalie Vinc was in 2024, and looks likely to be again a season later.

Age: 32
Season: 8
Position: Forward
Team: Calgary Roughnecks
From: Victoria, BC
Last Year: 18 🔥

With 300 points over the past three seasons, few forwards anywhere in the league are as relied on, as productive and as automatic as Calgary Roughnecks captain Jesse King. While the Riggers fell well short of expectations last year, and have since seen their once revered roster somewhat ripped apart, King continued to play at an elite level win or lose. His combination of size, skill and super-high stats make him arguably today’s top power forward, commanding attention whether the ball is in his twig or he’s grinding for real estate without it. Passing on the Premier Lacrosse League this summer, King instead helped lead a very young Victoria Shamrocks team to last year’s Mann Cup. King co-led that final series with 14 assists and was easily Victoria’s most productive player during their eventual Cup loss.

Age: 32
Season: 9
Position: Forward
Team: Georgia Swarm
From: Onondaga, NY
Last Year: 4

He is the only player to rank in The 100’s Top 5 in each of the last three years, Lyle Thompson listed just outside of that tippy top range heading into the 2025 season. Yes, Thompson saw a somewhat significant slip in assists (went from 60 to 45), but the Georgia Swarm as a team were scoring 1.2 fewer goals per game last year, so hard to hang that entirely on Lyle. After that, you can’t be too critical of Thompson’s 2024, where he posted his sixth straight 40-goal campaign (excluding the cut short 2020 season), again had one of the highest loose ball hauls of any high-end forward (115), and maybe most importantly, gave the ball away 35 fewer times in comparison to the abnormally high amount he lost in 2023. After giving the Buffalo Bandits their biggest scare during last year’s playoffs (the eventual champs needed OT to knock off the Swarm, Lyle owning a really nice stat line that game: 2G, 3A, 10LB, 2CTO), Thompson would go on to win the 2024 Mann Cup with the Six Nations Chiefs, leading the series in points (21 in five games) and was also named the Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy winner (Mann MVP), just the sixth indigenous player to garner the honour. Not a bad year for one of the sport’s most electric, influential and humble players.

Age: 32
Season: 12
Position: Forward
Team: Philadelphia Wings
From: Delta, BC
Last Year: 7

We rank the Top 30 players during the NLL regular season weekly starting in Week 8 and all the way to Week 22. Last year, here’s where Mitch Jones ranked in each of those 15 weeks: 6, 7, 11, 12, 10, 9, 8, 10, 14, 10, 7, 7, 7, 6, 7. Pretty good. He finished third in assists across the league last year (75) and fifth in total points (111). Jones had his second consecutive 30G-60A-90LB season, and allowed 29 fewer turnovers after leading the league with a 100 in 2023 (FYI: He also played a 19th game that year after being traded from Vancouver to Philadelphia). The hard to handle forward has transitioned into one of the league’s top playmakers during his two winters as a Wing, and should excel even more in that role with Philly’s offense looking as legit as ever with the additions of Callum Crawford, Phil Caputo and American rookie Brennan O’Neill. If the Wings don’t make the playoffs for a third straight season, it’s highly unlikely that fault will land at their forwards’ feet.

Age: 31
Season: 8
Position: Forward
Team: San Diego Seals
From: Coquitlam. BC
Last Year: 11

Last year, Wes Berg ranked ridiculously high in both our year-end weekly Top 30 NLL Player Rankings (we grade players on their impact in each game, plus where they rank statistically in every standard NLL stat) and Clutch Kings analysis (we analyze every goal a player scores and provide a point value based on how, when and where it was scored). He is a quantity and quality point producer that has stood out as the best player on a super-stacked San Diego Seals rosters loaded with some of the league’s absolute best talent. Like other offensive players that rank this high here, Berg not only posts leaderboard leading goal (41) and assist (67) totals, his loose ball effort (96) is also well above what most players at his level are likely to own. “Wes is not only a team leader and team captain, but he’s also one of our most valuable players and it’s great to know that he’ll be wearing Seals colours for the next three seasons,” said Seals General Manager and Head Coach Patrick Merrill soon after the team re-signed him this summer. “Wes plays the game relentlessly from end to end and he really gets our guys going. Players like Wes are the ones you need to win championships and that’s exactly what we’re aiming to do here in San Diego.” To be continued.

Age: 29
Season: 6
Position: Forward
Team: Rochester Knighthawks
From: East Amherst, NY
Last Year: 12

From The Lax Mag’s 2024 NLL Player Rankings: Most Valuable Player…

While it made for a nice narrative for those that need an MVP to qualify for the playoffs, whether the Rochester Knighthawks made it into the postseason or not (and they did on the very last day of the season), Connor Fields should have already been in the MVP convo for a majority of the season. He opened our rankings at #1, slipped no lower than fifth, prior to this week had tied for the most weeks at #1 (five, alongside Josh Byrne), and was easily one of 2024’s most relied on offensive (and at times defensive) assets anywhere in the league. Again, for those that need a checklist for their MVP vote… Did his team make the playoffs? Check, with authority. Where would Rochester have been without Fields? Fucked. Was his story worthy of an MVP? If you watched him in Week 21 and don’t think his final regular season chapter was spicy enough, delete your account now. With that said, Fields did not finish as an official league MVP finalist. Honestly, what more could he have done? He finished second in the league with 56 goals, fourth in points (120), was Top 10 in assists (64), and owned a ridiculous loose ball total for a forward (159). You’d have to scroll all the way to Ian MacKay, who finished tied for 91st in points, for the first player that topped his 159 scoops. For the second straight year, he hit 30/60/90 territory too (G/A/LB). No player scored more go-ahead goals (AKA giving his team the lead) than Fields, who finished within our Clutch Kings Top 10 too. Plus, he gave a single-weekend performance for the ages in those two crucial wins in Week 21 that put Rochester in the playoffs, a team that had virtually no chance of making it just days before their double dub. If you’re ranking Fields for what he did in Rochester THIS YEAR, and not the secondary scoring option he was in San Diego or Buffalo, how could he not have been a Top 3 selection on your MVP ballot? Strange.

Age: 30
Season: 7
Position: Forward
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: New Westminster, BC
Last Year: 10

“He’s just coming into his own as…and he’s getting better every year. I think it’s taken a little while to get to where he’s at because he’s so aware of his teammates and didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes, and slowly worked his way into becoming one of if not the best player on our team or in the league. To get the MVP like he did, I think it’s just more than getting points, it’s what type of points he’s getting. He scores a lot of crucial goals for us…like game-tying goals, game-winning goals, like that overtime game in Georgia (NLL Quarter Finals), and he does everything. He is still always trying to put his teammates first.” – Buffalo Bandits Head Coach John Tavares during last year’s NLL Cup Final Game 2 post-game press conference.

We couldn’t agree more, Byrne our pick for last year’s MVP, as well as our number one ranked Clutch King, excelling in all those critical moments Tavares mentioned, plus so many more. Last year, Byrne became just the fifth player in NLL history to be named both the league’s regular season MVP and NLL Cup MVP in the same season, joining Colin Doyle (2005), John Grant (2007), Lyle Thompson (2017) and Dane Dobbie (2019) on that extremely exclusive list of legends.

Age: 27
Season: 4
Position: Forward
Team: Ottawa Black Bears
From: Brampton, ON
Last Year: 2

For all those that feel like the only reason Jeff Teat scores a sick amount of points in the NLL is because he plays on a below-average offense and is relied on at a ridiculously high rate (trust, many around the league feel this way, and it shows in the MVP ballots), well, you’d be wrong. Teat led an all-time Team Canada cast at the World Lacrosse Box Championships in scoring en route to winning gold and being named the tournament’s top player. Teat has, does and will always stand out on any squad he finds himself on, end of story. For those that need Teat to play in the playoffs to be named the regular season’s MVP (is a player on the lowest seeded post-season qualifier honestly more valuable than Teat, who just missed last year’s playoff by a single win?), well based on Teat’s almost unmatched first three seasons in the league, that doesn’t really make much sense. As The Lax Mag reviewed on Instagram several weeks ago, Teat is producing at a higher rate than even John Tavares was after his first three years in the league. With stronger goaltending, their deepest defensive depth yet, and an offense that added Jacob Dunbar and Nathan Grenon, can Teat get the Ottawa Black Bears franchise to the playoffs for the first time ever? Sadly, his MVP status depends on it.

Age: 32
Season: 12
Position: Forward
Team: Buffalo Bandits
From: Kitchener, ON
Last Year: 1

For the second straight year, Dhane Smith clocks in as our #1 player in The Lax Mag’s Top 100. With teammate Josh Byrne named most valuable during last year’s regular season and playoffs, and Jeff Teat running out with arguably the greatest first three seasons in NLL history, how did Dhane end up here, again? Well, from last December to this past September, no box player on the planet had the same level of individual and team success as Buffalo’s Great Dhane. Smith finished a single point behind Byrne for 2024’s NLL point-scoring lead, and while doing so, for the third straight year, set a new single-season assists record, which now stands at 101. It’s also only the third time in NLL history the same player led the NLL in assists over three consecutive seasons (Josh Sanderson and Shawn Evans are the other too). Smith then went on to co-lead the playoffs in points (34) with, guess who, his good buddy Byrne. Smith is one of today’s most defensively dependable forwards, always backchecking to prevent the opposition’s offensive press from pushing too hard, and then even sometimes staying on the floor to play his second offensive shift on, well, the same shift. Winning a Mann Cup with the Six Nations Chiefs and gold with Team Canada at the World Lacrosse Box Championships, Smith again excelled in any offensive or defensive situation he was slotted. While a forward-first player will never be awarded the NLL Transition Player of the Year, based on his role and resume, Smith most definitely could and probably should be up for serious TPOTY consideration. Smith was one of only three players who ranked in the Top 100 in four of the following five per-game stats last year: goals, assists, loose balls, caused turnovers and blocks. News flash, that is not normal. We are witnessing one of the greatest and most successful individual and team-centric careers in NLL history right now. Smith (1,084) is producing at a rate that could see him eventually topple John Tavares’ long standing points record (1,749), last year securing his seventh career 100-point season. How is Dhane Smith so high here? Because you’d have to be - high that is - to not acknowledge the historically significant season he had in 2024, and the absurd string of individual and team success he’s had over the last two years.

☝️ AND ✌️

📷 @NLLBandits pic.twitter.com/MFPwgzyhZA

— The Lax Mag (@TheLaxMag) May 19, 2024