2024 NLL Player Rankings: Most Valuable Player
While The Lax Mag’s National Lacrosse League Player Rankings typically orders the league’s Top 30 players from #1 to #30 since soon after the league’s opening weekend and right up to the end of the regular season, now that we’re in playoff mode, we’re shifting focus to our NLL year-end awards.
Specifically, who our rankings system (more on that here) says should win all of the NLL’s most important end-of-season honours (our award-winning history here), although expect an extra one from the league this year.
Most Valuable Player
Before we jump into our Top 5 and name our 2024 NLL MVP, we have to review the last week of the regular season.
Never have our Top 5 ranked players leading into the final weekend of the regular season been closer in our NLL Player Rankings point totals (again, more on that here) than they were this year. While our Top 3 seemed relatively locked in (Josh Byrne, Jeff Teat and Nick Rose), as we noted previously, a massive game or games in that final weekend could have still forced some movement at the top of our countdown (namely, Dhane Smith and Connor Fields).
Well, exactly that happened in Week 21.
John Tavares, Buffalo Bandits, the National Lacrosse League’s first MVP in 1994
Here’s how our long-standing Top 5 did to end the regular season during that final weekend…
Josh Byrne at Las Vegas: 3G, 6A, 5LB, 1CTO
Jeff Teat vs. Albany: 4G, 3A, 6LB
Nick Rose at Saskatchewan: 11GA, .780SV%, 39SV
Dhane Smith at Las Vegas: 2G, 10A, 9LB, 2CTO
Connor Fields at Georgia, vs. Philadelphia: 11G, 5A, 13LB
Leading into that last week, we had the above five ordered like this: 1. Byrne, 2. Teat, 3. Rose, 4. Smith and 5. Fields.
How did that final regular season weekend impact their placement, what did each of them do better than virtually any other player this year, plus our pick for the 2024 NLL MVP, all below.
Nick Rose, Toronto Rock (Photo: Ryan McCullough)
5. Nick Rose
Age: 36
Team: Toronto Rock
Seasons: 14
From: Orangeville, ON
You could argue, and we did, that Nick Rose’s 2024 regular season resume was even more impressive than what the league’s only two goalie MVPs, Steve Dietrich (2006) and Christian Del Bianco (2023), did during their award-winning seasons. He led in more stats with mostly better overall numbers and guided his team to a more superior record – pre playoffs of course, relax. He was nominated by league voters, but did not garner enough votes to be named NLL MVP. Rose never ranked lower than fifth in our weekly rankings, something only Bryne & Fields matched this year, Fields accomplished last year, and Zach Currier did during the 2022 season. His final weekend was a below average performance by Rose’s recent high-as-hell standards, those Week 21 stats above similar to what he did in Rock losses versus wins in 2024. It slid him slightly here today, but make no mistake about it, Rose was hands down one of this past season’s most impactful and important players.
Click here for our in-depth, stopper-specific analysis of Rose in The Lax Mag’s 2024 Goalie of the Year breakdown.
Jeff Teat, New York Riptide (Photo: Jenn Pierce)
4. Jeff Teat
Age: 27
Team: New York Riptide
Seasons: 3
From: Brampton, ON
This is the lowest we’ve ranked Teat over his first three seasons in the league, a 2x end-of-season second ranked player prior to fourth this year. While Teat surely loses official NLL MVP votes due to New York’s inability to play past the regular season (we’ve discussed that topic many times), that doesn’t matter here where we analyze individual player performances, not team success, which would include various levels of effort of an entire roster and even coaching staff. While some feel Teat’s regular sky-high point total is a result of the Riptide not having as many offensive resources to rely on, in our analysis, the fact that Teat still succeeds at a ridiculously high rate when teams know the ball will almost always end with him, is most definitely a positive in our player rankings math (especially when it comes to ranking New York’s Top 6 player every game, again, more on that here). He also hit 30/60/90 status for the third straight season (remember, this was only his third season in the NLL), which means Teat touched at least 30 goals, 60 assists and 90 loose balls. There are two areas that prevent Teat from another second overall ranking or higher: the fact he leads the league in turnovers and doesn’t do overly well in our Clutch Kings countdown, where we apply point values to game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goals. Again, both of those areas reflect somewhat on his Riptide support system, although also on Teat to a degree.
One player can’t do it all, but Teat tries his best. Below are each team’s 2024 points leader, plus their second-highest producer and how far behind he is from tying that top player. Even if you added up the gap between the two teams after New York below, they’d still be behind the point differential between Teat and his next nearest teammate.
New York: Jeff Teat (130) & Connor Kearnan (79) 51
Colorado: Eli McLaughlin (93) & Connor Kelly (64) 29
Rochester: Connor Fields (120) & Ryan Smith (99) 21
Toronto: Mark Matthews (97) & Tom Schreiber (76) 21
Calgary: Jesse King (105) & Tyler Pace (86) 19
Halifax: Clarke Petterson (104) & Austin Shanks (86) 19
Philadelphia: Mitch Jones (111) & Joe Resetarits (95) 16
Albany: Alex Simmons (96) & Ethan Walker (85) 11
Panther City: Will Malcom (104) & Callum Crawford (93) 11
Saskatchewan: Robert Church (100) & Ryan Keenan (90) 10
San Diego: Wes Berg (108) & Austin Staats (102) 6
Vancouver: Keegan Bal (104) & Adam Charalambides (98) 6
Buffalo: Josh Byrne (135) & Dhane Smith (134) 1
Las Vegas: Rob Hellyer (77) & Jack Hannah (76) 1
Gerogia: Lyle Thompson (87) & Andrew Kew (87) 0
Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
3. Dhane Smith
Age: 31
Team: Buffalo Bandits
Seasons: 11
From: Kitchener, ON
Dhane Smith was our #1 ranked player at the conclusion of both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, plus we placed him first in our pre-season Top 100 leading into 2024 too. Three things prevented him from finishing that high again: his slow goal-scoring start to the season (was barely scoring a goal per game over first eleven games, then upped that to a hat-trick per outing the rest of the way), a way above average turnover total (only Teat had more, his 77 the highest of his career) and that teammate Josh Byrne was often our #1 rated Buffalo player during many games this year (again, more on why that matters in our math here). With that said, Smith was simply spectacular again this season, easily leading the league in assists while breaking his own single season assists record, registering his third straight 130+ point season (and fourth of his career), and finishing with, again, his third straight 30/60/90 campaign (scoring at least 30 goals, getting at least 60 assists, and scooping at least 90 loose balls). In fact, it was Smith’s fifth 30/60/90 season, the most of any player, ever. In our Transition Player of the Year analysis, we looked at which players produced at a per-game rate good enough to place in the Top 100 in the following stats: goals, assists, loose balls, caused turnovers and blocks. Somehow Smith, a forward (who back checks seemingly on every other shift if not more), was one of only three players in the league to find himself on four of five of those hundy lists. Oh, and in that last weekend of the season, Smith’s 10 helpers and 12 total points were both two of the highest single game totals for any player this year.
Connor Fields, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: John Harrison)
2. Connor Fields
Age: 28
Team: Rochester Knighthawks
Seasons: 5
From: East Amherst, NY
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.
Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
1. Josh Byrne
Age: 30
Team: Buffalo Bandits
Seasons: 6
From: New Westminster, BC
We had him #1 going into Week 10, he returned to the top spot several weeks later and has not given up that high-ranking hold since, which now makes six weeks total at the top. Josh Byrne is officially The Lax Mag’s season-ending #1 ranked player and our clear pick as 2024’s NLL MVP. Why? Byrne did a lot of what the offensive players above accomplished this year: scored an absurd amount of goals (53), set up a silly sum of assists (82, which was actually the 9th highest single-season total ever), had above average defensive numbers for a forward (75LB, 14CTO), and played a pivotal role in Buffalo’s mid-season turnaround. While it doesn’t compute in our player ranking calculations, Byrne is also today’s most electric player, owning a cross-crease hang time that defies gravity & logic, a ferocious first step & ball-carrying footwork that is the filthiest the league has ever witnessed, and a prowess to bait defenders with a cool calmness that often results in the goal light going off repeatedly. What really set Byrne apart from all others this year was his ability to score when it mattered most, which was highlighted in The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings countdown – a goal-scoring points system that takes into account the type of goal a player scores (game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning), what on-floor scenario that goal was scored (even-strength, power-play or short-handed) and maybe most importantly, when that goal was scored (first three quarters, fourth quarter or OT). Byrne dominated our Clutch Kings analysis more than any other player in any previous season we’ve published the money-scoring report. For those that need their MVP’s performance to directly translate into wins, well, Byrne conquering our Clutch Kings countdown is pretty pivotal proof his goals matter, in fact, they mattered more than any other player this year, by a lot. The NLL’s first-ever MVP in 1994 and Byrne’s multi-Cup-winning coach today, John Tavares seems to agree with our analysis…
The Lax Mag All-Pro Teams
First Team
G - Nick Rose, Toronto Rock
D - Mitch de Snoo, Toronto Rock
T - Jake Withers, Halifax Thunderbirds
F - Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits
F - Connor Fields, Rochester Knighthawks
F - Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits
Second Team
G - Doug Jamieson, Albany FireWolves
D - Brad Kri, Toronto Rock
T - Ian MacKay, Buffalo Bandits
F - Jeff Teat, New York Riptide
F - Wes Berg, San Diego Seals
F - Mitch Jones, Philadelphia Wings
Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Colleen Shaw)
NLL Player Rankings: Final Edition
1. (1) Josh Byrne, Buffalo (F)
2. (5) Connor Fields, Rochester (F)
3. (4) Dhane Smith, Buffalo (F)
4. (2) Jeff Teat, New York (F)
5. (3) Nick Rose, Toronto (G)
6. (7) Wes Berg, San Diego (F)
7. (6) Mitch Jones, Philadelphia (F)
8. (8) Mitch de Snoo, Toronto (D)
9. (9) Austin Staats, San Diego (F)
10. (11) Will Malcom, Panther City (F)
11. (10) Callum Crawford, Panther City (F)
12. (13) Jesse King, Calgary (F)
13. (12) Robert Church, Saskatchewan (F)
14. (15) Clarke Petterson, Halifax (F)
15. (14) Ryan Smith, Rochester (F)
16. (16) Doug Jamieson, Albany (G)
17. (17) Christian Del Bianco, Calgary (G)
18. (19) Keegan Bal, Vancouver (F)
19. (18) Jake Withers, Halifax (T)
20. (21) Mark Matthews, Toronto (F)
21. (23) Alex Simmons, Albany (F)
22. (20) Lyle Thompson, Georgia (F)
23. (23) Andrew Kew, Georgia (F)
24. (24) Brad Kri, Toronto (D)
25. (26) Graeme Hossack, Halifax (D)
26. (27) Tom Schreiber, Toronto (F)
27. (25) Chris Origlieri, San Diego (G)
28. (30) Nick Damude, Panther City (G)
29. (NR) Ian MacKay, Buffalo (T)
30. (NR) Ryan Dilks, Vancouver (D)