NLL Player Rankings: Week 14
After the first full month (four weeks of completed games more specifically) of the 2021/22 National Lacrosse League season were completed, The Lax Mag started publishing weekly updated NLL Player Rankings, examining the league’s Top 30 players from Week 1 until the end of the regular season.
The rankings only take into consideration how a player has performed for this specific season. TLM ranks the top six players from each team for every completed regular season game, utilizing an average star rating system. For a full breakdown of how players are evaluated and more on our scoring system, click here.
NLL Player Ranking Highlights: Week 14
After a spectacular performance for the Georgia Swarm in their OT victory over the Rochester Knighthawks, Lyle Thompson has regained the lead in The Lax Mag NLL Player Rankings. His 4 goals in that wild W were the fifth time this year he’s scored four or more, his 3 assists the eighth time this season he’s helped out on three or more of his teammate’s tallies, and also the eighth time this year he’s had a shooting percentage 25% or better in a single game. While he currently sits tied for first in total goals with Joe Resetarits at 31, Thompson’s 29 even-strength + short-handed finishes (no man-ups) easily sit him solo for that stat. As pointed out on IG, Thompson continues to produce some of this year’s most preposterous points too. Quality, quantity and class (just 6 PIM in 11 GP) from one of lacrosse’s most incredible talents.
#1 Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm (Photo: Kyle Hess)
NLL Player Rankings: Stopper Stats
So far this season (including today’s updated leaderboard), we’ve had seven goalies appear in the NLL Top 30: Dillon Ward, Warren Hill, Matt Vinc, Doug Jamieson, Zach Higgins, Alex Buque, and Frank Scigliano, who this past weekend, allowed only four goals in a single game for the third time this year. Only Vinc and Bob Watson have had four or fewer that many times (or more), although neither legend did it in a single season like Scigliano just did.
After last week’s Mid-Season Awards Edition of the NLL Player Rankings, from talk on social media, other sites and offline as well, it’s the starting stopper spot that seems most hotly debated when deciding this year’s positional best.
This week Ward, Hill and Higgins remain in the Top 30, Scigliano sneaking in for the first time this season. Ward and Hill are the only two that have been on the leaderboard since we first rolled out the rankings in early January.
To further add to the debate of this year’s top tendy, TLM has spit out some slightly more advanced stats than the normal numbers NLL.com would have. We examined how many saves a goalie this year averages per minute played, as well as some of this year’s single game highs too. Some stopper stats you’d except, others you won’t.
Note: All goalies who have played 100 or more minutes during this year’s regular season were included.
Dillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth (Photo: Jack Dempsey)
Saves/60 Minutes
Whether a goalie was pulled due to performance, left early due to injury, or played in excess of 60 minutes when a game moved to OT, we confirmed how many saves this year’s stoppers have averaged over a full-four-frame game. A total of seven goalies this year are getting their team 40+ saves per 60, a number many feel is usually enough to get a dub done & dusted. When looking at the below breakdown (saves/60 + W/L record + saves/minutes played), you’ll find that’s not really the case, this year at least. Although Scigliano has this season’s most stunning GAA (7.73) he’s also been required to make far fewer saves due to San Diego’s outstanding own-end play this year. In comparison to Ward, who’s been TLM’s top-rated goaltender for the last number of weeks, Scigliano is making 11 fewer saves than the Mammoth starter.
Dillon Ward 45.28 (5-3) .75
Evan Kirk 42.73 (1-1) .71
Matt Vinc 41.59 (9-1) .69
Rylan Hartley 41.24 (2-6) .69
Zach Higgins 41.22 (4-5) .69
Alex Buque 41.22 (4-4) .69
Steve Orleman 40.30 (2-7) .67
Doug Jamieson 38.87 (5-6) .65
Warren Hill 38.80 (7-1) .65
Eric Penney 38.60 (2-0) .64
Nick Damude 37.00 (2-6) .61
Christian Del Bianco 36.62 (3-6) .61
Steve Fryer 36.17 (1-1) .60
Nick Rose 35.43 (7-2) .59
Mike Poulin 35.12 (5-5) .59
Frank Scigliano 34.49 (5-2) .57
Kevin Orleman 32.45 (1-2) .54
Adam Shute, Saskatchewan 31.83 (2-6) .53
Alex Buque, Vancouver Warriors (Photo: Jordan Leigh)
% of Games with 40 or More Saves
Although long since gone from this season, in the two games Evan Kirk played for Rochester, he was required to stop 40 or more in both. Rylan Hartley, who took over for Kirk, also sits relatively high on the list (% + GP). Could Kirk have kept it up? The only player close to Kirk’s small sample size % is Ward, who have been forced to make 40 or more stops in seven of the nine games he’s played for Colorado this year. Why is Colorado 6-3 and sitting securely in second in the West? Do you really have to ask? While the 8-year vet might not be the trendy tendy or flashy find for GOTY or even MVP, it’s difficult to debate the high-level impact Ward has on the Mammoth’s success this season.
Evan Kirk 100% (2)
Dillon Ward 78% (9)
Alex Buque 56% (9)
Doug Jamieson 50% (12)
Zach Higgins 50% (10)
Rylan Hartley 44% (9)
Matt Vinc 40% (10)
Mike Poulin 36% (11)
Steve Orleman 30% (10)
Eric Penney 25% (4)
Steve Fryer 25% (4)
Christian Del Bianco 22% (9)
Warren Hill 22% (8)
Nick Rose 18% (11)
Kevin Orleman 17% (6)
Frank Scigliano 14% (7)
Adam Shute 11% (9)
Nick Damude 0% (8)
Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Ben Green)
Top 15: Most Saves in a Game
Look at that, Ward at the top, again. Although the Mammoth lost after being largely outplayed, Ward’s 62 stops in Colorado’s OT loss to Saskatchewan a few weeks back is easily one of this season’s absolute best single-game performances of any player at any position. Vinc, who was only required to make 26 saves last week in Buffalo’s win over Albany, in OT no less, appears more often than any other goalie here. Prior to the small amount of stops made last weekend, Vinc’s previous two games were those 50+ nights right near the top of this countdown.
Dillon Ward 62 vs. Saskatchewan
Steve Orleman 56 vs. Philadelphia
Matt Vinc 54 vs. Albany
Zach Higgins 53 vs. Georgia
Matt Vinc 52 vs. Rochester
Warren Hill 52 vs. Toronto
Eric Penney 50 vs. Georgia
Frank Scigliano 50 vs. Calgary
Matt Vinc 49 vs. Calgary
Christian Del Bianco 49 vs. Saskatchewan
Matt Vinc 48 vs. Rochester
Dillon Ward 48 vs. Georgia
Dillon Ward 48 vs. Panther City
Rylan Hartley 48 vs. Buffalo
Steve Orleman 48 vs. Halifax
Rylan Hartley, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: Bill Wippert)
Top 15: Highest Single-Game Saves/Minute
While those stunning performances by Ward and Riptide rookie Steven Orleman still sit in the top two spots here, an interesting game by Hartley registers here too. Hartley was pulled after 39 minutes in Rochester’s 18-10 loss to Philadelphia in January. The Wings had a wicked start in the second half with 7 goals against Hartley in just under 9 minutes. The yank was justified, sure, but Hartley’s play in the first two frames was so fantastic, even with when you factor in that second-half fall, he was still averaging nearly a save/minute.
Dillon Ward .93 vs. Saskatchewan
Steve Orleman .93 vs. Philadelphia
Rylan Hartley .90 vs. Philadelphia
Matt Vinc .90 vs. Albany
Matt Vinc .87 vs. Rochester
Eric Penney .83 vs. Georgia
Frank Scigliano .83 vs. Calgary
Zach Higgins .82 vs. Toronto
Christian Del Bianco .82 vs. Saskatchewan
Zach Higgins .80 vs. Georgia
Dillon Ward .80 vs. Georgia
Dillon Ward .80 vs. Panther City
Rylan Hartley .80 vs. Buffalo
Dillon Ward .78 vs. Saskatchewan
Zach Higgins .78 vs. Albany
Alex Buque .78 vs. Panther City
So, who has been the best stopper so far this season? Spit your pick at the tweet below, and then come back and keep scrolling to see this week’s updated NLL Top 30.
NLL Player Rankings: Week 14
Rank. (Previous Week) Player, Team, Position (Average Star Rating)
1. (2) Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm, F (5.27)
2. (1) Zach Currier, Calgary Roughnecks, T (5.22)
3. (3) Dillon Ward, Colorado Mammoth, G (4.89)
4. (7) Jeff Teat, New York Riptide, F (4.63)
5. (9) Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits, F (4.60)
6. (8) Joe Resetarits, Albany FireWolves, F (4.58)
7. (5) Austin Staats, San Diego Seals, F (4.57)
8. (4) Tom Schreiber, Toronto Rock, F (4.44)
9. (10) Ryan Lee, Colorado Mammoth, F (4.44)
10. (17) Mike Messenger, Saskatchewan Rush, T (4.40)
11. (6) Reid Bowering, Vancouver Warriors ,T (4.40)
12. (16) Callum Crawford, New York Riptide, F (4.40)
13. (11) Warren Hill, Halifax Thunderbirds, G (4.38)
14. (14) Challen Rogers, Toronto Rock, T (4.36)
15. (15) Wes Berg, San Diego Seals, F (4.33)
16. (12) Graeme Hossack, Halifax Thunderbirds, D (4.22)
17. (13) Jesse King, Calgary Roughnecks, F (4.22)
18. (21) Shayne Jackson, Georgia Swarm, F (4.20)
19. (19) Steve Priolo, Buffalo Bandits, D (4.13)
20. (23) Holden Cattoni, Rochester Knighthawks, F (4.00)
21. (22) Kiel Matisz, Philadelphia Wings, T (3.91)
22. (18) Curtis Dickson, Calgary Roughnecks, F (3.83)
23. (24) Zach Higgins, Philadelphia Wings, G (3.80)
24. (25) Keegan Bal, Vancouver Warriors, F (3.67)
25. (20) Kyle Rubisch, Saskatchewan Rush, D (3.70)
26. (27) Dane Dobbie, San Diego Seals, F (3.56)
27. (NR) Frank Scigliano, San Diego Seals, G (3.43)
28. (30) Robert Church, Saskatchewan Rush, F (3.40)
29. (NR) Mitch de Snoo, Toronto Rock, D (3.36)
30. (NR) Brad Kri, Toronto Rock, D (3.36)
NR = not rated in previous week’s Top 30
*Rookie