NLL Player Rankings: Week 12
After the first six weeks of the 2022-23 National Lacrosse League season are complete, The Lax Mag will publish our weekly NLL Player Rankings, examining the league’s Top 30 players from Week 1 right up until the end of the regular season.
The rankings are based on our star-rating system (individual game analysis) and overall statistical positioning (full season analysis). For a full breakdown of how both areas are ordered, click here.
Coming out of Week 12: Dhane Smith owns the top spot for the fourth straight week, Jeff Teat jumps Connor Fields for second after netting his third sock-trick of the season, Christian Del Bianco inches closer to our Top 5, and Will Malcom cracks the Top 10 for the first time this year.
Will Malcom, Panther City Lacrosse Club (Photo: Steven Richardson Jr.)
While we typically focus on the names above and the rest of our weekly Top 30 (scroll all the way to the bottom if that’s all you’re here for), this week we’re looking at which players have seen the biggest spikes & drops in their offensive production during the 2022-23 regular season in comparison to what they did a year ago. Although several of those players regularly appear in our Top 30, some of this year’s most significant statistical risers do not.
Unlike our Top 30, which only includes players who have played two-thirds of their team’s games, we counted up everyone that has played at least half of the 2022-23 season in our statistical summaries below.
Connor Fields, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: Micheline Veluvolu)
It’s not a huge shock to see Fields & Teat top the goal-gainers list, with Fields garnering far greater responsibility in Rochester and Teat taking on even more of the offensive load in New York since Callum Crawford was dealt. Buffalo’s Brad McCulley is one of a number of Bandits who’ve upped their production while the team deals with some significant injuries on offense. While Mitch Jones sees the biggest drop off in goals per game, keep in mind, he played just four times for Vancouver last year before his season-ending injury. Jones was registering MVP-worthy digits prior to peacing out in 2022, so that statistical slow down is a bit deceiving. He’s one of the very few still trending to a 30-60-90 Club campaign this year.
Top 15 Goals 📈
Connor Fields, Rochester +1.72
Jeff Teat, New York +1.47
Zack Greer, Las Vegas +1.47
Dane Dobbie, San Diego +1.25
Blaze Riorden, Philadelphia +1.21
Kieran McArdle, Albany +1.18
Brad McCulley, Buffalo +1.09
Josh Byrne, Buffalo +1.07
Tanner Thomson, Albany +1.06
Dalton Sulver, Buffalo +1.00
Tanner Cook, Calgary +0.99
Shane Simpson, Calgary +0.98
Stephen Keogh, Toronto +0.85
Ethan Walker, Albany +0.83
Charlie Bertrand, Las Vegas +0.81
Top 10 Goals 📉
Mitch Jones, Philadelphia -1.33
Kyle Killen, Vancouver -1.13
Phil Caputo, Panther City -0.75
Taite Cattoni, Philadelphia -0.75
Brendan Bomberry, Georgia -0.73
Jordan MacIntosh, Georgia -0.72
Turner Evans, Rochester -0.71
Shayne Jackson, Georgia -0.69
Austin Staats, San Diego -0.63
Zach Herreweyers, Calgary -0.60
Dean Fairall, Panther City -0.60
Rhys Duch, Colorado Mammoth (Photo: Jack Dempsey)
Although his statistical comparison is measured against only a couple of games with Halifax last year, a healthy Rhys Duch in Colorado continues to show why he can still be a short-term asset for an NLL club. The 36 year old has taken on an important distribution role in Denver (leads the team with 22 assists) while the Mammoth still wait for Ryan Lee’s much-needed return. Like Duch, players like Tanner Thomson, Kieran McArdle, and again, McCulley, have seen a stats spike due to the opportunity they’ve been given to play bigger roles this year (injuries, trades, free agency, position change, etc.). Right now, Duch is on pace for 53 assists, which would be one of his highest single-season helper totals over 14 NLL seasons.
Top 15 Assists 📈
Rhys Duch, Colorado +2.64
Tanner Thomson, Albany +2.08
Andrew Kew, Georgia +1.84
Brad McCulley, Buffalo +1.60
Tom Schreiber, Toronto +1.36
Kieran McArdle, Albany +1.34
Connor Fields, Rochester +1.32
Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan +1.31
Ryan Smith, Rochester +1.14
Brett McIntyre, Colorado +1.14
Wes Beg, San Diego +1.06
Rob Hellyer, Las Vegas +1.04
Austin Shanks, Halifax +1.00
Connor Kearnan, New York +1.00
Kyle Buchanan, Buffalo +0.86
Jacob Ruest, Las Vegas +0.86
Top 10 Assists 📉
Logan Schuss, Vancouver -2.19
Kevin Crowley, San Diego -1.67
Tre Leclaire, San Diego -1.56
Jordan MacIntosh, Georgia -1.17
Patrick Dodds, Panther City -1.11
Callum Crawford, Panther City -1.10
Keegan Bal, Vancouver -1.04
Taite Cattoni, Philadelphia -0.95
Dean Fairall, Panther City -0.90
Reid Reinholdt, Las Vegas -0.89
Tanner Thomson, Albany FireWolves (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
While Thomson isn’t Albany’s highest point producer (only McArdle & Connor Kelly rank ahead of him right now), his increased production not only leads the FireWoles, he’s tops NLL-wide too. Thomson was taken in the first round of the 2019 NLL Draft by the Saskatchewan Rush, who later traded him to the New England Black Wolves (now Albany FireWoles) for Tristan Rai and a second-round pick in this year’s NLL Entry Draft. Thomson is one of only two FireWolves forwards (Charlie Kitchen is the other) that remain with the club after this past off-season’s roster redo in Albany.
Fields, Malcom, Schreiber and Teat, who were already top point producers a season ago, impressively rank here as well. All four players place high in our Top 30 Player Rankings a bit further below. A case for MVP can easily made for any of them.
Top 10 Points 📈
Tanner Thomson, Albany +3.14
Connor Fields, Rochester +3.03
Brad McCulley, Buffalo +2.69
Kieran McArdle, Albany +2.51
Rhys Duch, Colorado +2.29
Brett McIntyre, Colorado +1.86
Dalton Sulver, Buffalo +1.60
Will Malcom, Panther City +1.54
Tom Schreiber, Toronto +1.53
Dane Dobbie, San Diego +1.50
Andrew Kew, Georgia +1.50
Blaze Riorden, Philadelphia +1.49
Jeff Teat, New York +1.47
Holden Cattoni, Rochester +1.41
Reilly O’Connor, New York +1.32
Stephen Keogh, Toronto +1.32
Top 10 Points 📉
Logan Schuss, Vancouver -2.89
Kevin Crowley, San Diego -2.23
Jordan MacIntosh, Georgia -1.89
Taite Cattoni, Philadelphia -1.70
Dean Fairall, Panther City -1.50
Tre Leclaire, San Diego -1.49
Patrick Dodds, Panther City -1.34
Keegan Bal, Vancouver -1.32
Brendan Bomberry, Georgia -1.16
Lyle Thompson, Georgia -1.14
Players that have seen the biggest statistical spikes in other areas this year:
Loose Balls (FO): TD Ierlan, Toronto +4.96
Loose Balls (non FO): Ryan Terefenko, Halifax +4.64
Caused Turnovers: Nick Weiss, Buffalo +1.34
Face-Off Wins: Jake Withers, Halifax +4.88
Shot Attempts: Kieran McArdle, Albany +8.50
Shots on Goal: Kieran McArdle, Albany +6.74
NLL Player Rankings: Week 12
TW. (LW) Player, Team, Position
1. (1) Dhane Smith, Buffalo, F
2. (3) Jeff Teat, New York, F
3. (2) Connor Fields, Rochester, F
4. (5) Nick Rose, Toronto, G
5. (6) Tom Schreiber, Toronto, F
6. (8) Christian Del Bianco, Calgary, G
7. (7) Kyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan, D
8. (9) Robert Church, Saskatchewan, F
9. (10) Dane Dobbie, San Diego, F
10. (15) Will Malcom, Panther City, F
11. (4) Curtis Dickson, San Diego, F
12. (13) Zach Currier, Calgary, T
13. (11) Josh Byrne, Buffalo, F
14. (17) Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan, F
15. (12) Mitch de Snoo, Toronto, D
16. (18) Randy Staats, Halifax, F
17. (21) Reid Bowering, Vancouver, D
18. (16) Rylan Hartley, Rochester, G
19. (19) Matt Vinc, Buffalo, G
20. (15) Wes Berg, San Diego, F
21. (20) Graeme Hossack, Halifax, D
22. (22) Brad Kri, Toronto, D
23. (24) Jesse King, Calgary, F
24. (26) Rob Hellyer, Las Vegas, F
25. (27) Joe Resetarits, Philadelphia, F
26. (25) Jake Withers, Halifax, D
27. (23) Dillon Ward, Colorado, G
28. (29) Steve Priolo, Buffalo, D
29. (NR) Jonathan Donville, Panther City, F
30. (28) Tyler Pace, Calgary, F