Albany FireWolves already extremely active leading up to Monday’s NLL trade deadline
Glenn Clark, Albany FireWolves
The National Lacrosse League’s 2023 Trade Deadline is Monday, May 20 at 3pm ET. The 2-9 Albany FireWolves, who were already extremely active during the offseason and first few months of the current season, are striking even more deals just days before this year’s deadline.
On Monday, the FireWolves sent veteran defender Greg Downing to the Toronto Rock in exchange for a second-round pick in this year’s NLL Entry Draft. A day later, Albany GM Glenn Clark dealt their own second rounder in the 2025 draft to the Saskatchewan Rush for second-year forward Marshall Powless, a former seventh overall selection in the 2020 draft.
Currently in his 14th season in the NLL, Downing is still considered one of the league’s more reliable defensive defensemen, while Powless still shows pro promise after seemingly never fully fitting into the Rush’s offense over the past two seasons. Like many forwards with the FireWolves this winter, he’ll get ample opportunity to improve his offensive stat line.
The pair of player-for-pick transactions were the tenth & eleventh trades the team has made since late August when they surprisingly dealt forwards Andrew Kew & Reilly O’Connor in separate deals.
Although the campaign was incomplete due to the pandemic, the New England Black Wolves (now Albany FireWolves after a franchise relocation) finished the 2020 regular season with the best overall record in the entire league. At 8-3 (.727), many had them as a Cup favourites, while forward Callum Crawford led the league in points even though the team had played fewer games than most. He was also the player’s pick for MVP that winter.
Since then, Albany’s win percentage over the last two years has plummeted to .373. Although they are mathematically still in contention for a playoff spot this season, the FireWolves would likely need to run a 7-0 record the rest of the way to pull that post-season feat off. The team also lost Crawford to free agency, and this past summer saw former franchise-leading forward Joe Resetarits sign with the Philadelphia Wings. Like Crawford, Resetarits was coming off an MVP-level season prior to looking elsewhere.
In The Lax Mag’s 2022-23 pre-season NLL poll, players selected Albany as the team they’d least like to be traded to.
Clark clearly saw the collapse coming, which sparked the double digit and counting trade total we’ve seen from the team since August 24.
Will he make more? Maybe. Probably.
While many felt former Goalie of the Year Doug Jamieson might be the next to go – he certainly would garner a lot in return – NLL on TSN personality Pat Gregoire confirmed during last week’s FireWovles vs. Rock broadcast that Clark dealing Jamieson would be highly unlikely after his recent conversation with the Albany GM & head coach. Teams have tried to lure the talented goaltender in the past.
The FireWolves most definitely still has desirable assets that could provide a post-season hopeful or Cup chaser with significant depth, especially defensively, but those swappable pieces are obviously not as plentiful as they once were.
Below are outgoing & incoming lists of players & picks Albany has dealt & acquired since those revealing deals on August 24.
Incoming
Players (9): Marshall Powless (trade Saskatchewan), Jake Fox (trade Panther City), Leo Stouros (trade New York), Thomas Vaesen (trade Buffalo), Jackson Reid (trade Panther City), Jackson Nishimura (trade Las Vegas), Kieran McArdle (trade New York), Ethan Walker (trade Georgia), Aaron Forster (trade Toronto)
Picks (5): 1st rd. 2022 (trade Georgia), 1st rd. 2022 (trade New York), 2nd rd. 2023 (trade Toronto), 3rd rd. 2024 (trade Philadelphia), 1st rd. 2026 (trade Panther City)
Outgoing
Players (9): Greg Downing (trade Toronto), Curtis Conley (trade New York), Adam Bomberry (trade Buffalo), Taite Cattoni (trade Philadelphia), Tony Malcom (trade Panther City), Jacob Ruest (trade Las Vegas), Reilly O’Connor (trade New York), Andrew Kew (trade Georgia), Ethan Woods (trade Georgia)
Picks (7): 1st rd. 2022 (trade New York), 3rd rd. 2023 (trade Toronto), 3rd rd. 2024 (trade Panther City), 6th rd. 2024 (trade Panther City), 2nd rd. 2025 (trade Saskatchewan), 3rd rd. 2025 (trade New York), 3rd rd. 2026 (trade Panther City)
Those two 2022 first round picks got the FireWolves forwards Alex Simmons (St. Catharines Athletics & University of Denver/Syracuse University) and Will Johansen (Nanaimo Timbermen & Robert Morris University). Both prospects are still playing collegiately, but will be available to Albany next year.
Currently on a seven-game losing streak, the FireWolves travel to Uniondale this weekend to take on the 3-9 New York Riptide (Saturday, 7:30pm ET), the team that started that streak and has beaten them twice in total during it.
Albany has not won a game in over 60 days.