2024 NLL Player Rankings: Relying on too few for too much

After the first several weeks of the 2023-24 National Lacrosse League season are complete, The Lax Mag will publish a weekly NLL Player Ranking, examining the league’s Top 30 players from Week 1 right up until the end of the regular season.

TLM’s Top 30 NLL Player Rankings have nothing to do with reputations, career resumes, success in past seasons, whether we know a player personally, recognizing deserving players who’ve previously been passed over, player popularity, the size of their social media following, whether you slide into their DMs, or who others around the league tell us should get hype.

Our rankings, which only take into consideration a player’s performance for the current regular season, will be calculated using both our star-rating system after each game, but also a player’s season-long statistical position (based on per-game average, not full-season totals) across the league. Only players who have played two-thirds of their team’s games will qualify.

Click here for an even more in-depth description of our scoring system.

Connor Fields, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: Micheline Veluvolu)

Earlier this week, NLL.com’s Adam Levi tweeted, “During today's Rochester Knighthawks’ media availability, Head Coach Mike Hasen stressed the importance of getting continued secondary scoring from guys like Austin Hasen, Thomas McConvey, and others to give their team a better chance of winning week-in and week-out,”

Rochester’s primary scoring comes courtesy of Ryan Smith and Connor Fields, who have been doing the team’s heavy lifting on offense all season, and have been Top 10 regulars in The Lax Mag’s weekly Top 30 this year too. The Knighthawks teammates are two of six players (Nick Rose, Jesse King, Josh Byrne and Wes Berg are the others) to remain in our Top 10 since our first edition this season. In short, they’ve been extremely good, especially when it comes to getting goals.

After starting the season 3-0, Rochester has dropped six straight and are quickly fading from this year’s playoff picture. Their .333 win percentage has them tied with the Philadelphia Wings for 13th in the 15-team league. When it comes to standings success, their current formula clearly isn’t working.

Ryan Smith, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: Micheline Veluvolu)

Right now, Smith (28) and Fields (26) have combined for nearly 50% of Rochester’s 112 goals after nine games. For those wondering, that’s a very high percentage for your Top 2 goal getters to own. In fact, it’s easily the highest percentage in the league leading into Week 14.

Last year, the New York Riptide were getting ripped regularly for relying far too much on Jeff Teat for their overal offensive production. During the 2023 season, Teat’s (56G) and Connor Kearnan’s (30G) combined goal count made up 43% of the team’s 201 total goals. This year, the same lineup-leading duo eat up 44% of New York’s net goals. Both eye-popping percentages are below Smith’s and Fields’ 48% so far this season.

Below, see what percentage of goals teams are getting from their Top 2 goal scorers versus the rest of their roster.

Top 2 Scorers vs. Rest of Roster (%)

When lining up Rochester’s individual offensive player stats to the rest of the league, it actually doesn’t look so bad. Tied into Hasen’s offensive worries are issues at the other end of the floor, where the Knighthawks are giving up more goals per game than any other team in the league (13.78). In their goal scorer’s defense, Rochester’s 12.44 goals per game is third best in the league right now.

If the Knighthawks continue to play barnburner ball, Hasen is 100% right, they need more goals from everyone past Smith and Fields. Tightening things up in their own end will surely help up front too. Getting goals from their transition players is paramount if they hope to turn things around. Matt Gilray, who has been one of this year’s top two-way talents, has pushed pause on his previously consistent scoring pace (was giving Rochester a goal per game over their first six, but has been held scoreless and practically shotless over their last three).

Wes Berg, San Diego Seals (Photo: Kalea Vizmanos)

Other thoughts after reviewing the digits that were used to determine the above chart…

The average percentage of goals from your Top 2 goal scorers is 39%. While obviously not to the levels Rochester relies on their deadly offensive duo, below are the other teams who’ve leaned kinda heavily on their own Top 2 this year.

Rochester: Ryan Smith & Connor Fields (48%)

San Diego: Austin Staats & Wes Berg (45%)

New York: Jeff Teat & Connor Kearnan (44%)

Colorado: Eli McLaughlin & Connor Kelly (42%)

Vancouver: Adam Charalambides & Kevin Crowley (40%)

Panther City: Callum Crawford & Will Malcom (40%)

Rarely if ever does any previous season’s NLL Cup champion rely so heavily on so few for their offensive production. During last year’s playoff, the Buffalo Bandits had five forwards all within the 10-15 goals range en route to their Cup victory. With Ryan Lee out for most of the playoffs, the Colorado Mammoth got about 70% of their goals from Eli McLaughlin, Connor Robinson and Zed Williams, while also getting timely secondary support, especially in transition, while claiming 2022’s Cup.

Eli McLaughlin, Colorado Mammoth (Photo: Michael Hetzel)

Rochester we’ve already reviewed, but here’s what the stats are telling us when scanning the above squad’s (the ones getting 40% or more of their goals scored by only two players) secondary scoring:

• San Diego could definitely use more production from their transition, and Dane Dobbie too, who is on pace for some record-low offensive numbers.

• New York could obviously give Teat a bit more help most nights, although with that said, they already have as many players in double digit goals as they did all of last year. Similar to Rochester, they rely heavily on their Top 2, and are giving up a lot of goals against (12.73, which is the third worst average in the league).

• Colorado is most definitely missing Lee and need that clutch-scoring support that they were getting so consistently the past two seasons. Often playing from behind, few play comeback (aka cardiac) ball as good as them.

• Vancouver generally needs to score way more from anywhere and everywhere on the floor (their 9.50 goals per game are dead last in the league). Only Adam Charalambides is averaging at least two goals or more per game right now. Over their past six games, the Warriors have scored single digits in four of them, winning just once over that stretch.

• 5-4 Panther City, who have lost four really close games by an average of just 1.75 goals, could correct a few of those results by connecting more on their previously potent press. Josh Medeiros, who had a breakout season in 2023 and netted 21 goals via PC’s press, has zero after nine games this year.

Nick Rose, Toronto Rock (Photo: Ryan McCullough)

Since The Lax Mag’s Player Rankings are largely about individual player performances, while it may not always equal standings success (we previously reviewed why that matters, a lot, when it comes to NLL MVP voting), many of the relied-on forwards mentioned above do appear regularly in our weekly rankings, but…

It’s Toronto Rock goaltender Nick Rose who sits number one for the second straight week after a allowing just five goals against in the team’s recent win over Vancouver. Five goals against in a single 60-minute (or more) start is the lowest GA for a goalie this season (Saskatchewan’s Frank Scigliano also did it). This is also the first time all year that a #1 ranked player has held the spot for consecutive weeks. Our number ones so far have gone (our rankings start after Week 7): Fields, Rose, Byrne, Rose, Fields, Rose, and Rose.

NLL Top 30: Week 14

TW. (LW) Player, Team (Position)

1. (1) Nick Rose, Toronto (G)
2. (3) Josh Byrne, Buffalo (F)
3. (4) Connor Fields, Rochester (F)
4. (2) Jeff Teat, New York (F)
5. (5) Jesse King, Calgary (F)
6. (6) Dhane Smith, Buffalo (F)
7. (8) Wes Berg, San Diego (F)
8. (9) Mitch Jones, Philadelphia (F)
9. (7) Ryan Smith, Rochester (F)
10. (11) Callum Crawford, Panther City (F)
11. (10) Austin Staats, San Diego (F)
12. (12) Jake Withers, Halifax (D)
13. (14) Alex Simmons, Albany (F)
14. (13) Mitch de Snoo, Toronto (D)
15. (15) Chris Origlieri, San Diego (G)
16. (16) Christian Del Bianco, Calgary (G)
17. (18) Lyle Thompson, Georgia (F)
18. (20) Matt Gilray, Rochester (F)
19. (24) Clarke Petterson, Halifax (F)
20. (17) Zach Manns, Saskatchewan (F)
21. (19) Will Malcom, Panther City (F)
22. (25) Doug Jamieson, Albany (G)
23. (22) Steve Priolo, Buffalo (D)
24. (23) Brad Kri, Toronto (D)
25. (27) Eli McLaughlin, Colorado (F)
26. (21) Ethan Walker, Albany (F)
27. (30) Graeme Hossack, Halifax (D)
28. (28) Joe Resetarits, Philadelphia (F)
29. (26) Robert Church, Saskatchewan (F)
30. (NR) Ryan Dilks, Vancouver (D)