NLL Power Rankings: Week 10

Every week during the 2022-23 National Lacrosse League season, The Lax Mag will publish updated NLL Power Rankings reflecting the previous week’s performances, as well as incorporating a team’s overall regular season rep, status, and success rate.

This week, we’re looking at which players are involved in their team’s goals the most by highlighting the percentage of goals they’ve contributed to (goals + assists) after the NLL’s Week 10 schedule. We’ve included any player that has contributed to 25% or more of their team’s total goal count. While each of those players are listed in their team ranking below, the Top 10 most relied-on point producers across the league are:

Contribution to team’s total goals (%)

1. Jeff Teat, New York, 70%
2. Dhane Smith, Buffalo, 59%
T3. Joe Resetarits, Philadelphia, 57%
T3. Andrew Kew, Georgia, 57%
5. Will Malcom, Panther City, 55%
6. Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan, 53%
7. Rob Hellyer, Las Vegas, 52%
8. Robert Church, Saskatchewan, 51%
9. Tom Schreiber, Toronto, 50%
10. Curtis Dickson, San Diego, 48%

A team’s goals per game plus where they rank in the league right now is also included.

Toronto Rock 6-2 (1)

While their goaltending & defense has been their main point of strength for many seasons, the Rock now also have a rep as one of the league’s most lethal offenses too. Their 22 against the Riptide last week showed just how deadly they can be when at their best. Heading into Week 11, Toronto ranks first in goals for (14.13) and goals against (9.25), allowing nearly five fewer per game than their opponent this Friday, the Georgia Swarm (Gas South Arena, 7pm ET).

Goals per game: 14.13 (1)
Main contributors: Tom Schreiber (50%), Corey Small (36%) and Dan Craig (34%)

Buffalo Bandits 7-2 (2)

Based on his role in Buffalo’s offense, you knew Dhane Smith would be high here, his overall involvement in the Bandits’ goal total up 5% from last year’s end-of-season stats. Josh Byrne, who has missed the last 1.5 games due to injury, still sits at over 40%. With Byrne sidelined, Chase Fraser still at 0 GP, and Chris Cloutier on the IR, the Bandits are getting good secondary support from forwards (Kyle Buchanan & Tehoka Nanticoke are up several percentage points from last year) and additional scoring from their potent press (mostly Ian McKay, Steve Priolo and Nick Weiss).

Goals per game: 13.56 (4)
Main contributors: Dhane Smith (59%), Josh Byrne (42%), Kyle Buchanan (30%) and Tehoka Nanticoke (26%)

San Diego Seals 6-1 (3)

For those that were worried that there might be an issue sharing the ball in San Diego, well, clearly there’s no reason to fret any further. San Diego’s forwards are sharing their team’s offensive production more than most this year, led by Curtis Dickson, who is most definitely an MVP maybe over the first half of the year. The fact that Austin Staats, who missed the first two games of the season due to a suspension, has been involved in 24% of San Diego’s goals this year is really impressive. For those wondering, Kevin Crowley is fifth at 20%.

Goals per game: 13.71 (3)
Main contributors: Curtis Dickson (48%), Dane Dobbie (45%) and Wes Berg (45%)

Rochester Knighthawks 6-2 (4)

Even though he missed a game earlier this year, Connor Fields still leads Rochester in overall goal involvement. Although their offensive production has been the lowest it’s been all season during this 0-2 slide, having their first five forwards all involved in 25% or more of the team’s scoring makes Rochester a dangerous side to silence.

Goals per game: 12.63 (6)
Main contributors: Connor Fields (46%), Holden Cattoni (39%), Ryan Smith (39%), Curtis Knight (32%) and Thomas Hoggarth (26%)

Saskatchewan Rush 6-2 (5)

Not too shocking to see Mark Matthews, Robert Church and Ryan Keenan sitting 1, 2, 3 below. The Rush’s big three got ripped a bit during last year’s rough start, but there isn’t much to complain about a season later. While the team is getting steady secondary support from Marty Dinsdale (24%) & Marshall Powless (23%), Matthews, Church and Keenan are one of the more relied-on trios in the league right now.

Goals per game: 13.33 (5)
Main contributors: Mark Matthews (53%), Robert Church (51%) and Ryan Kennan (39%)

Calgary Roughnecks 4-3 (8)

After Tyler Pace’s & Jesse King’s consistent contribution to the offense, there is a significant gap in goal involvement from the rest of the roster. Concerning? Maybe. Between Christian Del Bianco’s stellar stopping (he also ranks third in helpers behind Pace & King) and spread-out scoring that was highlighted by Jeff Cornwall’s thrilling OT winner last week, the Roughnecks have managed to remain extremely competitive.

Goals per game: 11.86 (7)
Main contributors: Tyler Pace (43%) and Jesse King (42%)

Halifax Thunderbirds 4-4 (6)

Like Rochester, Halifax’s first five forwards are contributing at a really high rate right now. On any night, any one of them can go off, which is what’s been happening for most of this season. They’ll get the Knighthawks this Saturday (Blue Cross Arena, 7pm ET), a team they torched for 17 just a few weeks ago. Only the Rock are averaging more goals per game presently.

Goals per game: 13.88 (2)
Main contributors: Randy Staats (39%), Clarke Petterson (38%), Ryan Benesch (32%), Cody Jamieson (29%) and Eric Fannell (25%)

Colorado Mammoth 4-3 (7)

At first glance, having five forwards contributing 25% or more to the Mammoth’s goals this year is impressive, especially with Ryan Lee still sidelined, but with Colorado the only team in the league right now averaging under 10 goals per game, well, that’s clearly a concern. The Mammoth are also getting next to no goal support from their press presently, which aren’t helping matters. Their 8 goals against the Desert Dogs last Saturday (13-8L) was just the second time this season a team failed to hit double digits against the eager expansion team.

Goals per game: 9.71 (15)
Main contributors: Eli McLaughlin (47%), Connor Robinson (43%), Rhys Duch (41%), Zed Williams (29%) and Chris Wardle (25%)

Panther City Lacrosse Club 4-4 (9)

If an MVP is supposed to represent the player that is most valuable to his team, then Will Malcom has to be in that conversation this season. Only four players in the league right now are more relied on for their offensive contributions (Teat, Smith, Resetarits and Kew) than Malcom is at 55%. Jonathan Donville is one of the very few rookies listed here today too, Panther City putting him to work early & often. They still rank kinda low in overall offensive output (9 out of 15 teams), but that’s why they picked up Callum Crawford.

Goals per game: 11.38 (9)
Main contributors: Will Malcom (55%), Jonathan Donville (46%) and Patrick Dodds (33%)

Philadelphia Wings 3-4 (12)

There has been a very noticeable gap between Joe Resetarits and the rest of the Wings’ offense so far this season. Resetarits has registered 41 points after seven (next closest is Ben McIntosh at 26) and has one of the highest goal-contribution percentages in the league. Dhane Smith in Buffalo is doing similar work, but he’s getting far greater support up and down the lineup on a nightly basis, which is reflected in Buffalo’s record. The addition of Mitch Jones seemed to spark something, the Wings looking the best they have all season in last week’s 13-5 win over Albany.

Goals per game: 10.29 (11)
Main contributors: Joe Resetarits (57%), Ben McIntosh (36%), Blaze Riorden (36%) and Matt Rabmbo (36%)

Albany FireWolves 2-4 (10)

Last week, their offense struggled against a Philadelphia defense that hasn’t exactly been keeping teams quiet so far this season. In fact, Connor Kelly’s 2 goals were the only shots scored by a forward in their 13-5 loss to the Wings. Was that an all-time forward low? No, but it was close. During the 2015 season, Matt Vinc held the Minnesota Swarm to just two goals, only one of which was scored by a forward. Former FireWolves forward Joe Resetarits led the winning team in goals in both of those low-scoring affairs.

Goals per game: 10.17 (13)
Main contributors: Kieran McArdle (41%), Connor Kelly (39%), Tanner Thomson (36%) and Ethan Walker (26%)

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 2-5 (13)

Rob Hellyer is one of just eight players in the league right now who has contributed to over 50% of his team’s goal scoring. Vegas is getting spread-out production otherwise, just could use a bit more of it, like they got against the Mammoth this past Saturday (13-8W).

When was the last time an expansion team beat the defending NLL Cup champs like Las Vegas did against Colorado? Actually, it happened just last year when Panther City beat Calgary, 20-14.

Goals per game: 11.00 (10)
Main contributors: Rob Hellyer (52%), Jack Hannah (36%), Charlie Bertrand (29%), Jon Phillips (27%), Zack Greer (27%) and Jacob Ruest (26%)

New York Riptide 1-6 (11)

Offensively speaking, no team relies on a player more than the New York Riptide do with Jeff Teat. Statistically speaking, it’s not even all that close really. With Callum Crawford traded to Panther City, that statement is even more factual. Do the Riptide have the offensive depth to compete in the East? Not so far.

And although we’re focussing on offensive production today, it’s worth noting that New York’s goals against (15.57) currently ranks second to last in the NLL, just a few decimal spots ahead of Vancouver (15.63). Of the six lowest ranked teams in the GA category, five either have rookies or second-year players starting in net right now.

Goals per game: 11.43 (8)
Main contributors: Jeff Teat (70%), Reilly O’Connor (43%) and Connor Kearnan (35%)

Georgia Swarm 0-5 (13)

Although Lyle Thompson’s personal high-end production is down this year, his contribution to the team’s overall goal scoring is only a bit behind last year’s 50% finish. What stands out more is how important Andrew Kew has been to their overall offense. He easily leads the team in assists (21), points (29), power-play points (9) and is second behind only Thompson in shots on target (44) and forward-scooped loose balls (32). During a season that seems like scoring is up across the league, Georgia is getting 1.19 goals fewer per game in comparison to last year.

Goals per game: 10.20 (12)
Main contributors: Andrew Kew (57%), Lyle Thompson (45%) and Shayne Jackson (37%)

Vancouver Warriors 1-7 (15)

The recently traded Mitch Jones sits pretty high on the Warriors’ list of most relied on goal contributors, and likely will for a at least a few more weeks while the team reworks their offense a bit with Jones in Philly & Logan Schuss on their season-ending IR. Vancouver had arguably their most successful stretch of the season over the first three periods in last week’s 14-8 loss to the Rush (outscored 8-2 in the fourth quarter).

Goals per game: 10.13 (14)
Main contributors: Keegan Bal (46%), Mitch Jones (43%), Shawn Evans (28%) and Kyle Killen (28%)