PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 1
What an offseason it was for the NLL. The start of free agency and all of the big name players involved, was delayed 2 times. The first round of the NLL draft was streamed live. Panther City Lacrosse Club folded and the players were snatched up by other teams in the dispersal draft. New York Riptide became the Ottawa Black Bears officially. NLL+ was revealed. Am I missing anything else? Oh and the Buffalo Bandits celebrated their 2nd championship in a row.
With all of that in the rear view mirror, it is time to look forward to the new season that kicks off tomorrow at 7pm EST in Ottawa! PK’s NLL Power Rankings are back for another year, with a small change to the set up. Last year we ranked all 15 teams with a write on all 15 of them. It was a lot of work and time to do. Having just bought a 150 year old house we are remodeling, expanding our Bandits/NLL coverage this season, as well as the BSC being an unpaid adventure, I decided to cut back just a bit on how these power rankings work. You will still get our 1-14 rankings every single Thursday. But for this season, only the top 8 will get a write up on our thoughts of the team. You might be asking yourself, why 8? Why not half the league and do 7 or go with the top 10? Well, the top 8 teams in the unified standings make the playoffs. So why not write on the top 8 teams in my weekly NLL Power Rankings?
I think that’s enough blabbering from me. Here are your week 1 Power Rankings for the 2024-2025 NLL Season!!!!
1. Buffalo Bandits – 0-0 (Last Week: )
This one is pretty obvious. How can we ranking the 2 time defending champs anywhere but the 1 spot to start the season. The team is running back a lot of the same names. MVP Josh Byrne. Record setter Dhane Smith. The GOAT Matt Vinc. Steve Priolo, Nick Weiss, Ian MacKay, Chris Cloutier, Kyle Buchanan. I think you get it. The biggest subtraction to the group would be Brandon Robinson who was traded to Rochester for Thomas Whitty this past September. His important role has not been filled and that left side of the offense is something we will be tracking all season long as the team decided to go Righty heavy carrying 5 on the 21 man roster. But this team is loaded from the top down. From an offense that led the NLL in scoring. To a defensive group who could be the top in the league. Finishing with Matt Vinc returning once again to lead from between the pipes. This team is focused on being just the 2nd team ever to 3 peat. Oh and they have something they did not have to start last season. A healthy team as they being their title defense. The team is on bye the first week in the season.
2. San Diego Seals – 0-0 (Last Week: )
This one might be a hotter take to be #2 before the season even kicks off. In the offseason I said there were 3 teams that really needed to decide which direction they wanted to head in. Run it back. Reload. Or Rebuild. The Seals decided to reload. Out goes Dane Dobbie (CAL), Curtis Dickson (CAL), Austin Staats (Suspended), Kyle Jackson (Hold Out), Chris Wardle (UFA), Jacob Dunbar (OTT). That is a lot of firepower to losing in one offseason and still be ranked #2 to start the season. But there is a big reason for that. In comes Rob Hellyer, Ryan Benesch, Ben McIntosh, Zach Currier, and Trent DiCicco. The Seals have a similar issue that the Bandits have, but theirs might be worse. Lefty Forwards are pretty vacant on this team. Beyond Benesch, they have the rookies DiCicco and Justin Sykes. Ty Thompson and Jake Govett on your Practice Squad. And the rumors of Zach Currier playing out the front door. Can they make it work with the players they have in house? Or will they be making calls to other teams or UFAs like Wardle, Logan Schuss and Zack Greer. They get Philly home on Sunday to kick off their season.
3. Albany Firewolves – 0-0 (Last Week: )
I will not be making the same mistake as I did last year when I had the Firewolves way down at 15 to start the season. They exceeded everyone’s expectations. Even their own making it all the way to the NLL finals. But now all the eyes are on this young team. The average age of their 21 man roster is 26. And the bulk of their core are here to stay for a very long time. Alex Simmons (25), Tye Kurtz (25), Marshall Powless (24), Dyson Williams (24), Ethan Walker (27), Patrick Kaschalk (26), Doug Jamieson (28) are all either just entering the prime of their careers are have yet to reach it. While all eyes will go right to their star studded forwards, it was the back end that really caught my eye last year. This team was 3rd in the league at 10.61 GAA. With a full season of John Wagner in the room, Could this team repeat what we saw last year? Their first test is Saturday vs the Rush who are hungry to take out the young Wolves.
4. Toronto Rock – 0-0 (Last Week: )
This was the 2nd team I mentioned in the offseason. The Seals reloaded. Halifax rebuilt. But Toronto decided to run it back with 18/21 being the same players as last year. With the exception of Dan Lintner, Sheldon Burns and Brandon Slade, this is pretty much the same team that was swept in the 2nd round yet again. They do get back Latrell Harris who missed all of last year with an injury suffered in the PLL as well as what appears to be a healthy Tom Schreiber to being the year. Unfortunately, Brad Kri was placed on the PUP list and TD Irelan on the IR on Tuesday. A blow to the Rock and their attempt to silence the critics that are out there. I being one of them. Their offense last year finished 3rd in the league while they had a league best 9.39 GAA with Nick Rose winning his first Goalie of the Year honors. I disagreed with their current plan to run it all back for this coming year. At the bare minimum I thought a change in coach might have been needed. We will get our first look at the team as they kick off the NLL season in Ottawa Friday night.
5. Rochester Knighthawks – 0-0 (Last Week: )
If you listened to any of our shows in November, you might not be surprised where the Rochester Knighthawks fall in week 1 of the power rankings. I was called a Toronto fan for years on the show. That might be changing to a Roch fan now. One of five 8-10 teams last year, Rochester were able to squeeze into the playoffs with the tiniest percent chance in the final weekend of last year’s regular season. The big difference for me this year will be the health of one Rylan Hartley. He only played 7 games or 204 minutes last year but he put up solid numbers. 9.71 GAA and a 79SV%. If this team gets a full 18 games out of Hartley this year, I think they are a title contender. I was already a fan of their offense but adding Graydon Hogg, their 2023 1st rounder, to the lefties, it balances their forward group nicely. On the back end, you have my pick for Transition Player of the Year, Matt Gilray paired with Ryland Rees, Taylor Jensen along with newcomers, Brandon Slade, Josh Mederios, and Chad Tutton. On paper this team is well constructed. We will see how well it’s built starting Saturday vs Vegas.
6. Colorado Mammoth – 0-0 (Last Week: )
After finishing in the cellar last year, 6 may be a bit high for the Mammoth. But in our NLL Bold Predictions I had Colorado leading the league in goals this coming season. And a lot of that is actually thanks to finishing 5-13 last year. So how exactly does a team that finished 14th in scoring and 12th in GAA move into a playoff spot. First is goaltending. I believe Dillon Ward rebounds nicely after not having to go deep into the playoffs last year. Its extra wear and tear on his body he did not have to go through. Next would be a vastly improved offense. If there was ever a time to finish where they did in the standings, last year was the year for it. A gift of one Will Malcolm falls into their lap after the dispersal draft. A healthy Ryan Lee. 2nd season in the system for one Connor Kelly. Those 3 with Eli McLaughlin, Connor Robinson, Zed Williams and Tyson Gibson and this could be one of the most deadly offenses in the league. As I predict it will be. They get their first test vs the Warriors Friday night who have one of the best defensive units in the whole league.
7. Georgia Swarm – 0-0 (Last Week: )
The team that was one goal away from knocking off the defending champs come in at #7 in our first power rankings of the year. The Swarm are another team that only made a few changes but the ones they did I feel were impactful. Adding a guy like Seth Van Schepen along with a Joey Cupido will help strengthen a defensive core in front of Brett Dobson who were already 5th in GAA last year. The offense will get the healthy addition of Kaleb Benedict who missed his entire rookie year as well as Zach Miller who was hurt going into playoffs. Pair them with Lyle Thompson, Andrew Kew, Shayne Jackson, Seth Oakes and Brendan Bomberry and it’s a very solid group. But to go from solid to title contender, we need to see Thompson and Kew be the type of 100 point performers they are capable of. If you get those players this coming year in front of 3rd year stud Dobson, this team can make noise in the playoffs. They get the first week off before hosting the Seals next Saturday.
8. Saskatchewan Rush – 0-0 (Last Week: )
The final team that gets our write up this week will be the Saskatchewan Rush. Out of all the teams that added pieces to their team, I think the Rush addition will be the most notable. 2023 12th overall pick Levi Anderson is already making noise around the league. Brock Haley who comes over in a trade from Vancouver was the 7th pick in the 2023 draft. Oh and the team signed Austin Shanks and his 85 points to a 2 year deal. Add those 3 to Robert Church, Zach Manns, Ryan Keenan, Clark Wlater and Mike Triolo and this is an offense that can get you to the playoffs. They also added Matt Hossack in the dispersal draft and Matt Acchione in the first round of the rookie draft to an already loaded defensive core with Ryan Barnable, Jacob Boudreau, Holden Garlent, Bobby Kidd III, and Mike Messenger. If this team can get good Frankie Scigiliano in net more often than not this year, I can see the Rush making big time noise all year long to try and get back into that title picture we have not seen in years. They get their first real taste Saturday in Albany.
9. Vancouver Warriors – 0-0 (Last Week: )
10. Ottawa Black Bears – 0-0 (Last Week: )
11. Philadelphia Wings – 0-0 (Last Week: )
12. Halifax Thunderbirds – 0-0 (Last Week: )
13. Calgary Roughnecks – 0-0 (Last Week: )
14. Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 0-0 (Last Week: )