NLL Player Rankings: Rookie of the Year

During the 2021/22 National Lacrosse League regular season, The Lax Mag listed the Top 30 players weekly by highlighting each games’ top six players (for both teams), attaching a point value to their in-game rank (1st = 6 points, 2nd = 5 points, etc.), and averaging that out over the entire season.

For those that haven’t been following, here’s a bit more on how we calculate our Top 30, plus why we’re doing it.

With the regular season complete, over the next several weeks The Lax Mag’s NLL Player Rankings will examine the top contenders for the NLL’s major year-end awards, starting with Rookie of the Year and ending with MVP. The most valuable rundown will also include our final take at the Top 30 too.

Jeff Teat, New York Riptide (Photo: Stacey Salter)

Who will win the 2021/22 NLL Rookie of the Year?

Based on previous NLL seasons, several from this year’s loaded rookie class could have probably contended for ROTY honours. This past winter included a double draft class due to pandemic paused seasons, so competition was significantly stiff.

First-year players have also benefitted from record-breaking roster opportunities with four new franchises over the last three seasons, plus we’ve got the Las Vegas Desert Dogs coming in hot next year too.

As mentioned in our recent NLL Player Rankings Rookie Report, nearly 90 rookies were rostered this year. We won’t bother running through the record books because that unquestionably has to be an all-time high.

With all that said, this year’s ROTY conversation comes down to two extraordinary talents: Jeff Teat and Reid Bowering.

Reid Bowering, Vancouver Warriors (Photo: Jaclyn McKee)

Although most of the league’s year-end voters will likely select Teat with their first-place pick (as did 81% in our recent Twitter poll), Bowering’s record-setting defensive domination is somewhat similar to the damage Teat did at the other end of the floor.

The New York Riptide rookie set new records during this year’s regular season, Teat’s 71 assists and 108 points now the best first-year finishes ever. Plus, while many often holler how unfair it is to compare today’s 18-game totals to past regular seasons that had as few as six starts, Teat’s helper haul this year even topped Gary Gait’s long-standing assists/game rookie record, by a lot (4.4 vs. 3.6).

Meanwhile, Bowering did similar by setting a new caused-turnover record for first-year talents (34) and matching Brodie Merrill’s rookie loose-ball record too (214).

Patrick Dodds, Panther City Lacrosse Club (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny)

While Teat’s record-book rewrites might be a bit more prestigious, the reason why he’s likely to win this year’s ROTY has more to do with what he meant to the Riptide roster. New York made a somewhat shocking late-season push for the playoffs, three critical clashes conducted without Callum Crawford present. Subtract Teat from the equation and the Riptide could have probably removed themselves from the playoff picture a month or more ago. There have been few rookies that have been relied on to the level Teat was this past season: Gary & Paul Gait’s debut in Detroit (1991), John Grant’s rookie run in Rochester (2000), Tracey Kelusky with Columbus (2001), and most definitely Merrill premiering in Portland (2006), but that’s probably about it.

In almost any other season, the Vancouver Warriors’ Reid Bowering would have been an easy ROTY decision, but in 2022, it has to be Jeff Teat.

Will Teat be an MVP finalist? He very well could be. Will Bowering be in the running for Transition Player of the Year? His season was certainly strong enough for serious consideration. Will either land on the league’s First or Second All-Pro Team? Second at worst one would think, but in this league, stranger things have happened.

Who will be voted to the NLL All-Rookie Team?

Well, clearly Teat and Bowering, but there are some other legit locks too.

The Panther City Lacrosse Club’s Patrick Dodds, who at one point this year was most definitely in the debate for ROTY, is an All-Rookie Team guarantee. Unlike Teat and Bowering, who both placed in TLM’s Preseason NLL Top 100, Dodds’ spectacular season was not nearly as expected. He rookie assist total is the fourth best ever (58), his point total only topped by six rookies over the league’s 35 seasons (84). Turning 21 only later this year, Dodds still has a season of BCJALL ball left.

Steve Orleman, New York Riptide (Photo: Jen Voce-Nelson)

Teat’s teammate, Steve Orleman, should also almost surely garner a rare goalie spot selection on the NLL’s All-Rookie Team. We closely examined Orleman’s early impact, plus his end-of-season success. Based on everything he’s accomplished this year, including playing more minutes in net that any NLL rookie ever (986:56), Orleman 100% deserves to be recognized here.

Being American (many have been missed during award season in the past) and an under-the-radar rookie, there’s a good chance TJ Comizio won’t land on the league’s top-rookie team, but he should. Comizio’s impressive CT tally is the eighth best rookie total ever (22), he was a pivotal presence on the Georgia Swarm’s potent offensive press, he had strong LB stats (90), and filled in on face-offs too. Comizio was easily one of this year’s most complete NLL rookies. Sounds like a rookie resume requiring recognition. We’ll see.

So that’s a goalie, two forwards and two defensive players we’ve picked based on Player Rankings points this year. Who takes the last spot?

Well, there’s a very good chance both of these offensive talents jump Comizio in the league’s official rookie voting (based on past picking patterns, politics, friendly favours, etc.), but with that said, Ryan Smith and Tehoka Nanticoke had rookie seasons worth celebrating.

Ryan Smith, Rochester Knighthawks

Smith, who played one less game than Nanticoke, had more goals (35) and assists (24), but as we’ve reviewed a number of times already, Nanticoke’s 2022 campaign was one of the most clutch ever, that goes for a rook or vet.

So, who does our year-long, point-scoring system say is the next best rookie?

Ryan Smith, but just barely.

With the amount of remarkably good rookie depth this year, you could easily pick an All-Rookie Second Team too. The NLL won’t, so we did.

TLM All-Rookie First Team

G – Steve Orleman, New York Riptide
D – Reid Bowering, Vancouver Warriors
D – TJ Comizio, Georgia Swarm
F – Jeff Teat, New York Riptide
F – Patrick Dodds, Panther City Lacrosse Club
F – Ryan Smith, Rochester Knighthawks

TLM All-Rookie Second Team

G – Joel Watson, Rochester Knighthawks
D – Patrick Foley, Panther City Lacrosse Club
D – Bobby Kidd III, Saskatchewan Rush
T/F – Tre Leclaire, San Diego Seals
F – Tehoka Nanticoke, Buffalo Bandits
F – Adam Charalambides, Vancouver Warriors

Panther City rookie Dean Fairall fared well in TLM’s NLL Player Rankings too, but played just ten games for the expansion side this season. Although we’re not aware of an official NLL rule regarding how many games played a player needs for year-end award consideration, our cut off all season has been two-thirds of a team’s total games in order to rank. While not listed as a rookie on NLL.com, 24-year-old Patrick Foley’s first season in the NLL landed him on our second squad above. His 23 caused turnovers are the seventh best CT sum for a rookie, ever.