After a couple of weeks of things finally turning back into the right direction, the NLL and NLLPA announced on Monday that they had come to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, ensuring labor peace for at least the next 3 years and as many as the next 5 depending on agreed upon revenue goals.

Under the preface of, “a shared commitment to flexibility and long-term league growth and stability,” there are not many changes on the floor, but the biggest in the front office is the change from a soft salary cap with a luxury tax to a hard cap. A draft of the final proposal that was sent around numerous sources earlier this week lists the cap thresholds as follows:

Season	Cap Floor	Cap
2025-26	$530,000	$810,000
2026-27	$545,000	$820,000
2027-28	$560,000	$835,000
2028-29	$575,000	$860,000
2029-30	$590,000	$885,000

After the last update on the negotiations back on October 3, we included that the Bandits were about 5% over a proposed $800k cap, suggesting they were around $842k for their payroll last year.

Which means cap casualties were inevitable. After two days of free agency, those casualties have been on the offensive side of the ball.

Buffalo’s loss is the gain of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs, who announced Wednesday they have signed both Chase Fraser and Chris Cloutier to contracts (terms yet to be announced). After a 4-14 record in their first season after moving off the strip in favor of their own building in Henderson, the Joe Tsai-owned Desert Dogs are ready to escape the basement, and with Jack Hannah, Jonathan Donville, and Adam Poitras still early in their careers, they have the capital to spend around them. Vegas also announced the addition of Tony Malcom to their defense and are rumored to be in the mix for Mitch Jones up front.

Where Does This Leave The Bandits?

After a highlight filled 2025 playoff run, the loss of Fraser is especially jarring to see, but to win three championships in a row, depth is necessary, and Buffalo has the depth to overcome those losses in house (before considering as well that they could still sign someone else, obviously). With Kyle Buchanan expected to re-sign with the Bandits, they will be retaining their top 4 goal scorers from the season prior, and Tehoka Nanticoke will be able to slide into Fraser’s minutes. Clay Scanlan, still only 24, appeared in 11 regular season games last year and had 3 multi-goal games in his rookie season. 2024 7th overall pick Lukas Nielsen is likely to step into that hole on the righty side of the offense. The 20 year old had a goal and assist in his NLL debut on March 21 against the Desert Dogs. Also joining the left side could be 21st overall pick Coltrane Tyson, a 6’5″ 205 lb forward who had 20 points in 7 games in his first season of Senior A ball with Brampton this summer.

Aside from the aforementioned Buchanan, the rest of their free agents play on the other side of the floor, which does of course include Matt Vinc, but there hasn’t been too much flowing around the rumor mill one way or the other on if he will be returning for another season or hanging it up. Most experts do expect him back, however.

The biggest names on defense in this regard are Paul Dawson and Nick Weiss. Like Vinc, the 40 year old Dawson could also be a candidate to retire. While Zack Belter, who signed a two-year extension today, and Cam Wyers can easily step into Dawson’s minutes if he does retire, the all-time shot blocking leader’s presence for another season would be greatly welcomed for another season. It would be hard to imagine the 33-year old Weiss moving to another team. It’s safe to say he should be back.

That leaves three wild cards: Kiel Matisz, who joined the Bandits at the trade deadline, Matt Spanger, who missed the end of last season with an injury, and Bryce Sweeting, who has been out with a lower body injury since fall 2023. With the cap hits across the league being private, we don’t know for sure how much more salary they’ll need to shed this season.

As for other signings, in addition to Belter, Connor Farrell signed a two-year deal to continue to take draws for the Bandits, and Dylan Robinson will also be back for the next two years. Evan Constantopoulos was extended for three more years, and draft picks Carter Coffey (R3, P39), Jaden Kennedy (R4 P61), David Burr (R5 P74), and Liam Keane (R5, P75) also signed standard three year rookie contracts.

The Other Early Moves

The Colorado Mammoth have already moved on from Zed Williams and Tyson Gibson. With Eli McLaughlin still out indefinitely while at firefighting school, things are going to look different up front in Denver next season. On the right side, they acquired Dylan McIntosh from Vancouver in exchange for their 2026 second round pick and their 2028 third round pick. They then made a splash on a righty for lefty move, sending Connor Kelly and a conditional 2026 first to the Georgia Swarm to acquire Andrew Kew, with second round picks in 2026 and 2028 going to the Mammoth too. An already strong left side featuring Will Malcom and Connor Robinson adds some more star power. Braedon Saris, the 5th overall pick in the draft, will likely see a lot of playing time in his rookie season teamed up on the right with McIntosh, Ryan Lee, and Ben McDonald.

For the Swarm, the acquisition of Kelly will help fill the hole left by Brendan Bomberry, who will be joining the Halifax Thunderbirds next season. Georgia’s offense saw big steps taken last season by young guys in Kaleb Benedict and Toron Eccleston, who Ed Comeau and Andy Secore will have high expectations for out the front door in 2025-26. Nolan Byrne, who renounced his remaining NCAA eligibility, will be in the mix on the left side after being selected 8th overall in this past draft.

Back to Vancouver, the space cleared on the right side of their offense did not stay vacant for too long, as Curtis Dickson will be reunited with Curt Malawsky, as will his longtime Roughnecks teammate Jesse King, as the Warriors continue to move towards even more concrete championship aspirations in their first full season with Christian Del Bianco between the pipes.

In his first season as the HC/GM of the Ottawa Black Bears, Dan McRae has been active in building his team to get over the top and into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. After acquiring Tanner Thomson, Nicholas Volkov, and Sam Firth from Oshawa for Taggart Clark at the draft, McRae went out and picked up a ball carrier for the right side of his offense, which is something the team has been longing for to pair with Jeff Teat throughout his career. The Black Bears acquired Rob Hellyer from the San Diego Seals in exchange for Cameron Dunkerley, Dustyn Birkhof, Andrew Dalton, and a conditional 2026 second round pick. The 33 year old Hellyer’s presence will allow Connor Kearnan and Jacob Dunbar to work off ball more often, which will fit their playing styles more strongly. In his lone season with the Seals, he registered 29 goals and 64 assists.

The biggest defensive free agent splash so far comes from Oshawa, where the still very young FireWolves will be welcoming Kyle Rubisch to the fold. The 37 year old from Brampton caused 16 turnovers and picked up 64 loose balls in 12 games last season for the Seals.

And finally, Eric Fannell will join the Philadelphia Wings this season after playing 14 total games between the FireWolves and Black Bears last year. Fannell’s career has seen ups and downs since being selected 6th overall by the Knighthawks in 2017, with some durability obstacles to overcome along the way, but he maintains a physical presence that opens up space when he is in the lineup.

Notable re-signings across the league so far includie Mitch de Snoo and Phil Caputo in Philadelphia, Robert Hope, Tim Edwards, and Jordan Gilles in Colorado, and Jake Govett and Kellen LeClair in San Diego.

(Photo Credit: Buffalo Bandits)