Clutch Kings: Josh Byrne ends regular season as NLL’s most money goal scorer
Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Stephen Greathouse)
The Clutch Kings tracks an individual National Lacrosse League player’s game-tying, go-ahead, and game-winning goals, then weighs 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). The deeper into a game you go, the more a goal is worth. We break the data down into three distinctive segments: first-to-third quarter, fourth quarter, and then of course overtime. Our weekly leaderboard and scoring system can be found at the bottom of this article.
While he may not have led the league in game winners, Josh Byrne’s 21 clutch goals (combined game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goals) for the Buffalo Bandits easily leads our clutch-scoring leaderboard and crowns the brilliant Byrne 2024’s Clutch King. Nearly half of Byrne’s money markers happened in the fourth quarter, all of them in even-strength situations as well.
Byrne’s 38.50 clutch points (again, scroll to the bottom of the page for our clutch-scoring system) was significantly higher than our previous two winners: Eli McLaughlin (29.75) and Connor Robinson (31.25). During the 2022 season, Byrne ranked seventh in our Clutch Kings countdown, and last year, even though he missed three games due to injury (more like four since he left that game early with said injury), he still finished fourth overall.
His clutch touch is clearly no fluke. Byrne has been as consistently clutch as they come for a while now.
Over his first six seasons in the league, Byrne already has 13 game winners, and although we don’t include assists in our Clutch Kings money math, it’s also worth noting he’s assisted on 16 other Buffalo game winners too.
Below are this year’s leaders in each of the three goal-scoring categories we count (GTG – game-tying goals, GAG – go-ahead goals, GWG – game-winning goals). These are simply straight goals, not taking into consideration how we weigh them by period or scenario.
Austin Staats, San Diego Seals (Photo: Jake Whiting)
GTG
1. Josh Byrne (Buffalo) 11
2. Chris Cloutier (Buffalo) 10
3. Robert Church (Saskatchewan) 9
4. Jeff Teat (New York) 8
Nine players tied with 7
GAG
1. Connor Fields (Rochester) 10
2. Will Malcom (Panther City) 9
3. Keegan Bal (Vancouver) 9
T4. Callum Crawford (Panther City) 8
T4. Austin Staats (San Diego) 8
T4. Shayne Jackson (Georgia) 8
T7. Josh Byrne (Buffalo) 7
T7. Zed Williams (Colorado) 7
GWG
T1. Austin Staats (San Diego) 4
T1. Jonathan Donville (Panther City) 4
T1. Andrew Kew (Georgia) 4
T1. Wes Berg (San Diego) 4
Nine players tied with 3, including Josh Byrne
See this year’s regular-season ending Clutch Kings Top 25 below, Byrne one of four Bandits cracking our year-end countdown. Since not all teams placed a player on the charts, here is each team’s 2024 Clutch Kings leader: Ethan Walker (Albany), Josh Byrne (Buffalo), Tyler Pace (Calgary), Zed Williams (Colorado), Andrew Kew (Georgia), Ryan Benesch (Halifax), Casey Jackson (Las Vegas), Jeff Teat (New York), Jonathan Donville (Panther City), Ben McIntosh (Philadelphia), Ryan Smith (Rochester), Austin Staats (San Diego), Robert Church (Saskatchewan), Mark Matthews (Toronto) and Keegna Bal (Vancouver).
NLL Clutch Kings: Final
CKs Rank. Player (NLL Gs Rank), Team, Clutch Points (GTG / GAG / GWG)
1. Josh Byrne (3) Buffalo, 38.50 (11/7/3)
2. Austin Staats (4), San Diego, 32.50 (5/8/4)
3. Andrew Kew (T22), Georgia, 31.75 (5/5/4)
4. Jonathan Donville (T42), Panther City, 29.50 (6/4/4)
5. Callum Crawford (T9), Panther City, 28.50 (7/8/3)
6. Ryan Smith (6), Rochester, 28.25 (7/6/3)
7. Will Malcom (T18), Panther City, 26.50 (6/9/0)
T8. Connor Fields (2), Rochester, 26.25 (6/10/2)
T8. Keegan Bal (5), Vancouver, 26.25 (2/9/2)
10. Mark Matthews (T31), Toronto, 25.75 (6/4/3)
11. Wes Berg (T12), San Diego, 24.75 (6/3/4)
12. Casey Jackson (T12), Las Vegas, 24.00 (6/5/2)
13. Dhane Smith (T26), Buffalo, 23.25 (5/6/3)
T14. Robert Church (7), Saskatchewan, 23.00 (9/4/2)
T14. Seth Oakes (T47), Georgia, 23.00 (6/4/2)
16. Adam Charalambides (T18), Vancouver, 21.50 (7/6/1)
17. Tyler Pace (T22), Calgary, 21.00 (4/6/1)
18. Jack Hannah (40), Las Vegas, 19.50 (3/4/2)
T19. Shayne Jackson (T34), Georgia, 19.00 (2/8/1)
T19. Corey Small (T16), Toronto, 19.00 (4/4/3)
21. Chris Cloutier (T34), Buffalo, 18.00 (10/1/1)
22. Zed Williams (T34), Colorado, 17.75 (3/7/0)
T23. Tre Leclaire (T54), San Diego, 17.50 (7/2/2)
T23. Ethan Walker (T28), Albany, 17.50 (3/3/3)
25. Tehoka Nanticoke (T42), Buffalo, 17.25 (3/3/2)
Scoring System
First 3 Quarters (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Power-Play Goal: 0.50/0.75/1.00
Short-Handed Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Fourth Quarter (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Power-Play Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Short-Handed Goal: 4.00/6.00/8.00
Overtime (GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 6.00
Power-Play Goal: 3.00
Short-Handed Goal: 12.00