NLL Player Rankings: Week 13

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.

Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)

During the past 13 weeks, we’ve mentioned the potential of some single-season records crashing in 2023, but now that most teams are at or even over this year’s halfway mark, The Lax Mags takes a deeper data dive on which records are legitimately in jeopardy.

Goals

Record: Dhane Smith, 72 (2016)

Right now, no one is on pace to break Smith’s record, but Jeff Teat is close. He’s averaging 3.80 goals/game after ten (only Connor Fields, Dane Dobbie, Josh Byrne, Tom Schreiber and Curtis Dickson are also averaging a hat-trick per outing), which would take him to 68 after a full season. While Fields is second in goals/game (3.44), he’ll only get in a max of 17 this season after missing one earlier this year. Dobbie is the only other player on pace for 60 goals or more. Currently, Teat’s projected total would finish behind only Smith and Athan Iannucci (71 in 2008). Both Smith & Iannucci were MVPs those years.

Jeff Teat, New York Riptide

Assists

Record: Dhane Smith, 94 (2022)

The record Smith set just a season ago is looking likely to be broken by, well, Dhane Smith. Last year’s MVP is averaging nearly 6 assists a night (5.80 to be exact), and no one else is really all that close to his preposterous pace. Right now, he’s on track to hit 104 helpers in 2023. Mark Matthews is next best, and he’d finish at 80 assists this year while averaging 4.44 a game, which prior to last season, would have had him in the running for a single-season record.

Points

Record: Dhane Smith, 137 (2022)

Yup, Smith is the record holder, again courtesy of last year’s incredible season in Banditland. And also yup, he’s on pace to better that total, but so is Teat. Smith (8.20) and Teat (7.90) are both on track to top 140 total points this year. Schreiber (7.00) is on pace to finish with 126 points, which right now at least, would be the fourth highest finish ever behind Smith (137 & 135) and Shawn Evans (130).

Jake Withers, Halifax Thunderbirds (Photo: Trevor MacMillan)

Loose Balls

Record: Jay Thorimbert, 246 (2015)

Jake Withers is just about 100 LBs behind Jay Thorimbert already, and with eight games to go, his 14.50 loosies per game have him on track to torch that single-season record (306). Reid Bowering (13.91) and Zach Currier (13.09) are the only player presently averaging 13 or more scoops a night, and they two are on track to top Thorimbert’s record.

Penalty Minutes

Record: Rory Smith, 104 (2010)

We don’t included PIMs in our calculation of 2023’s top players (more on what we do here), but NLL.com lists it, so what the hell. Two Las Vegas players are averaging way more than enough penalties to top Rory Smith, but neither Emerson Clark (21.50) or Jackson Suboch (11.60) will get in nearly enough games to rewrite the single-season record books (Clark just got off the team’s suspension list for this). Steve Priolo (4.89) and Withers are next on the list (4.80), but at least right now, they’d fall five or more five-minute fighting majors behind Smith.

Trevor Baptiste, Philadelphia Wings (Photo: Michael Hetzel)

Face-Off Wins

Record: Trevor Baptiste, 362 (2019)

Like with loosies, Withers by a million miles here too. He’s on pace (22.60) for over 400. Here’s who he’ll likely be up against at centre the rest of the way: Max Adler x2, Jeremy Thompson x2, TD Ierlan, Thorimbert, and… Trevor Baptiste, who won those 362 draws during his rookie season.

Caused Turnovers

Record: Zach Currier 62 (2022)

No one is even all that close unless someone like Graeme Hossack (2.20), Brad Kri (2.10) or even Zach Currier himself (2.00) really ups their production in the second half of the season. If Currier wasn’t taking a majority of his team’s draws this year, you’d have to think he’d a lot closer to last year’s totals.

Saves

Record: Anthony Cosmo, 752 (2014)

Right now, both Christian Del Bianco (42.45) and Matt Vinc (42.00) are on pace to break Anthony Cosmo’s record, the longest standing of most if not all of the league’s single-season records for non-rookies. Vinc finished just five saves shy of tying Cosmo, who is actually Vinc’s Goaltending Coach in Buffalo, the pair playing together in San Jose during Vinc’s rookie season in 2006. Del Bianco was just 8 years old that year.

Bob McMahon & Christian Del Bianco, Calgary Roughnecks (Photo: Jaclyn McKee)

Rookie Goals

Record: Paul Gait, 47 (1991)

American Jack Hannah (2.00) is projected to come the closest, but he’s on track to finish a fair bit behind Paul Gait’s seemingly untouchable 47, which he achieved in a 10-game season with the long-departed Detroit Turbos.

Rookie Assists

Record: Jeff Teat, 71 (2022)

Jonathan Donville is still on pace to just barely top Teat. His 4.00 assists per game would put him at 72 after 18 games. Donville is just one of seven players to be averaging four or more helpers this year. The others: Smith (8.20), Matthews (4.44), Rob Hellyer (4.33), Teat (4.10), Randy Staats (4.00) and Wes Berg (4.00).

Jonathan Donville, Panther City (Photo: John Harrison)

Rookie Points

Record: Jeff Teat, 108 (2022)

Donville’s (5.45) projected 98 points would fall ten behind Teat’s rookie total from last year, but would still rank second best of all-time in front of players like Staats (95), Scheiber (94) and Rhys Duch (89).

NLL Player Rankings: Week 13

TW. (LW) Player, Team, Position

1. (1) Dhane Smith, Buffalo, F
2. (2) Jeff Teat, New York, F
3. (3) Connor Fields, Rochester, F
4. (4) Nick Rose, Toronto, G
5. (5) Tom Schreiber, Toronto, F
6. (6) Christian Del Bianco, Calgary, G
7. (7) Kyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan, D
8. (9) Dane Dobbie, San Diego, F
9. (10) Will Malcom, Panther City, F
10. (12) Zach Currier, Calgary, T
11. (8) Robert Church, Saskatchewan, F
12. (11) Curtis Dickson, San Diego, F
13. (13) Josh Byrne, Buffalo, F
14. (14) Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan, F
15. (17) Reid Bowering, Vancouver, D
16. (18) Rylan Hartley, Rochester, G
17. (15) Mitch de Snoo, Toronto, D
18. (16) Randy Staats, Halifax, F
19. (19) Matt Vinc, Buffalo, G
20. (20) Wes Berg, San Diego, F
21. (21) Graeme Hossack, Halifax, D
22. (22) Brad Kri, Toronto, D
23. (23) Jesse King, Calgary, F
24. (24) Rob Hellyer, Las Vegas, F
25. (27) Dillon Ward, Colorado, G
26. (25) Joe Resetarits, Philadelphia, F
27. (26) Jake Withers, Halifax, D
28. (NR) Lyle Thompson, Georgia, F
29. (28) Steve Priolo, Buffalo, D
30. (NR) Andrew Kew, Georgia, F