Knighthawks Preview Will Be Out on December 1, Bandits on December 8, on the Friday before each of their first games

Coming off arguably their most successful season, truly rebounding from the pandemic which cost them a 2020-21 season, the National Lacrosse League spent their summer vacation opening the floodgates for what could blow last season out of the proverbial water.

Just when you thought that playoff races couldn’t get tighter, conferences are a thing of the past. All 15 teams will fight for the same 8 playoff spaces with traditional 1v8, …, 4v5 bracketing. As part of this, every team will play each other once, guaranteeing every team will play in every market at least once every two years. For the other 4 games on the 18-game schedule, a combination of last year’s standings and regional rivalries, as well as other player matchups/storylines and strength of schedule considerations.

The schedule will also be 21 weeks instead of 22, with games being played on Christmas Weekend. This will allow the playoffs to start a week earlier and ensure that a champion will be named during Memorial Day weekend, just as in NCAA Lacrosse.

From the official release: “The revamped standings, schedule, and playoff formats provide a streamlined, easy-to-follow, and fiercely competitive method of determining our playoff teams and, ultimately, our champion,” said Brett Frood, NLL Commissioner. “This also affords us flexibility in matching up teams to sustain lasting rivalries, create new ones, and maximize fan and partner engagement across the league.”

Coming out of the pandemic, the league tried to keep schedules packed tighter for travel, but now those reigns are fully lifted in a system that will make tiebreakers easier to follow for those crucial final playoff spots, and at the top, the chance for any two of the 15 teams to face off in the finals. The last time that the finals weren’t east vs west was 2003 when Toronto won their 4th of 6 championships 2003 against the Knighthawks.

Every game will be on ESPN+ and TSN+ once again, with another slate of linear games on TSN and ESPN coming as well.

So what else has happened?

The Global Stage

First the biggest news of the offseason, the IOC approved lacrosse as an Olympic Sport when the Summer Games head to Los Angeles in 2028. It will be in the sixes format to allow for more countries to be competitive and provide easier access to the sport in under-developed nations around the globe. The PLL will play their second annual Championship Series this Winter which showcases the Sixes formatting.

The field lacrosse world championships took place this past summer in San Diego, with the USA taking the gold over Canada. The box world championships will be taking place in Utica this upcoming fall.

As part of the quest for the international growth of lacrosse, each of the three pro lacrosse leagues and other American lacrosse organizations joined together for the ELEVATE28 initiative. It’s the first time we have seen Paul Rabil and Brett Frood have been shown together since Frood took over as commissioner.

NLL UnBOXed

To help grow the sixes game and the NLL brand, the league also announced their UnBOXed initiative to introduce lacrosse at the grassroots level in gym classes, not only in the 15 existing markets, 9 additional markets that will have their own regional branding and identity, to grow Jr NLL programs in those regions down the line. This includes former NLL markets in Montreal, Charlotte, Seattle (Played in Everett), Ottawa, Minneapolis / St. Paul, and Baltimore, and adding St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Salt Lake.

While Team 16 is not currently in the works, some of these markets have had investors sniffing around, so it’s not not testing these markets for potential expansion or relocation interests down the road. Montreal will be the first of these markets to host an NLL game, with the Rock and Riptide playing in Laval in February.

Rule Changes: Nothing major. The biggest is that there will be 4-on-4 play when there are offsetting minors called during 5-on-5 play. Graeme Perrow wrote about the rest of them here.

Okay Now To The Teams

Toronto Rock

• Two games against: Buffalo, New York, Halifax, Calgary
• Local: vs Buffalo January 27, @ Buffalo March 16, vs Rochester April 13

Last year the Rock bulked up on defense to combat the Bandits’ high-powered offense. And while it led to a 13-5 record and a rematch in the East Final with the Bandits, it didn’t go as planned. So this summer’s big move was for a big lefty in Mark Matthews to give the left side a leader to the same extent that Tom Schreiber leads the righties. They also added Chris Boushy in a trade from Halifax to replace Dan Dawson after he retired and Stephen Keogh after he signed in Rochester on that right side. They know that every high-powered move that they make won’t matter if they can’t get over the Bandit hurdle, but hey, that could potentially be a round later than the last three full seasons this year. They and the Bandits will be the two most popular teams in finals predictions.

However, there’s still another team on the other side of North America looking to make as big of a splash this season in the new format.

San Diego Seals

• Two games against: Calgary, Las Vegas, Colorado, Panther City
• Local: @ Buffalo December 16, vs Rochester December 29

Offseason additions of Curtis Dickson and Kevin Crowley last season had the Seals with powerful championship aspirations to help get Brodie Merrill a championship before he retired. They got themselves the one seed in the West, but the 4-seeded Mammoth stunned the Mammoth, breaking a 12-12 tie with 2 seconds left and sending the Seals home. They’ll no longer be playing for Brodie, as he also announced his retirement this offseason, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a lot of unfinished business this year. The core of Dickson, Berg, Dobbie, and Staats will look to score at a high rate once again, while the back end remains intact and adds Trevor Baptiste to faceoff and remove some load from Danny Logan’s plate following his breakout rookie season. Frank Scigliano’s move to Saskatchewan will allow for Chris Origlieri to start his takeover as the franchise’s goalie of the future, with Mike Poulin around as insurance and a wily veteran mentor in the goalie room. If all goes to plan, they’ll have their eyes on playing late into May.

They’ve also released a Season in Review Documentary on Amazon Prime this week called War on the Floor: A Season with the San Diego Seals which is worth checking out to get back in lacrosse mode.

Colorado Mammoth

• Two games against: Georgia, Vancouver, Buffalo, San Diego
• Local: @ Buffalo January 6, vs Rochester March 23, vs Buffalo April 5

For many parts of last season, it wasn’t very clear that the Mammoth would even make the playoffs, let alone make it back to the finals. And while losing Ryan Lee for the full upcoming season is going to make things more challenging for the Mammoth offense, we’ve learned that you can never count out Pat Coyle’s bunch week in and week out, and they will once again very likely find themselves in the mix when the snow is gone for the season, especially as long as Dillon Ward is between the pipes.

Calgary Roughnecks

• Two games against: San Diego, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Philadelphia
• Local: vs Rochester December 2, @ Buffalo April 13

Losing the reigning Coach of the Year is certainly no small loss, but their roster that features the reigning MVP and Transition Player of the Year is still relatively untouched compared to last year, with veteran reinforcements up from Thomas Hoggarth and Logan Schuss. Expecting a 13-5 team that made it to game 3 of the semifinals to fall off would discredit the work they’ve put in to get to this point.

Panther City Lacrosse Club

• Two games against: Las Vegas, Georgia, San Diego, Philadelphia
• Local: vs Rochester March 3, vs Buffalo March 22

Their 7-1 stretch towards the end of the 2021-22 season showed that maybe the expansion growing pains weren’t going to stick along for too long in Fort Worth, and the 2023 version of Panther City made their first postseason appearance. Year two of the Jonathan Donville and Will Malcom duo is primed for another stellar season, combining for 186 points last season, and while they traded Patrick Dodds, a full season of Callum Crawford in the fold, and Phil Caputo is expected to play the full season at forward should help them take the next step and defend their playoff spot.

Halifax Thunderbirds

• Two games against: Saskatchewan, Philadelphia, Toronto, Rochester
• Local: vs Rochester January 27, vs Buffalo February 16, @ Rochester March 30

The championship expectations aren’t what they were a few seasons ago, in the public sphere that is. While the Thunderbirds didn’t make a Randy Staats-level splash this offseason, they still maintain a roster that is built with a trophy on their minds. Cody Jamieson and Ryan Benesch are only getting older, but they each put up 70 points on the left side and will expect more minutes from Bo BowHunter and Dawson Theede this season. Clarke Petterson will look to capitalize on an 84-point campaign in his age-25 season alongside Staats. But this team will live and die by what may be the best transition group in the league with Tyson Bell, Ryan Terefenko, and Colton Armstrong alongside Jake Withers and Graeme Hossack who also push the floor from time to time. The ever-growing Thunderbird fanbase is hungry for a playoff run that will start once again opening up the league season at The Nest on December 1 against Saskatchewan.

That covers last year’s playoff teams. While some are more likely than others, each of the 7 teams that were on the outside looking in last season are ready to make their claim to one of those 8 playoff spots, not just aiming for a simple win increase.

Philadelphia Wings

• Two games against: New York, Halifax, Calgary, Panther City
• Local: vs Buffalo March 30, @ Rochester April 21

9-9 got them into the playoffs in 2021-22, but in 2023, they lost the tiebreaker for the wild card to Colorado, keeping them home in May. They finished 7-5 after a slow 2-4 start before trading for Mitch Jones, who had 91 points in those 12 games alone. The addition of Holden Cattoni to the ball-handling Jones and the inside threat in Blaze Riorden will set them up to go heavy lefty more often, which should help open up more space for the 110 point-getting Joe Resetarits when they swing the ball. Their biggest challenge will be overcoming the loss of Trevor Baptiste at the faceoff dot, with Isaiah Davis-Allen getting the first crack at the job.

Georgia Swarm

• Two games against: Colorado, Vancouver, Panther City, Rochester
• Local: @ Buffalo December 29, @ Rochester February 10, vs Rochester April 19

No team is more thankful for the new schedule format than the Georgia Swarm, who only played 4 games in the first two months of the regular season last year and played the Bandits and Rock 4 times as part of their 0-7 start. No major gaps in the schedule will help them grow through the early season more easily and get consistent practices, which the clumps of bye weeks prevented them from getting. The addition of Andrew Kew last season gave them a production equivalent on the left side to what Lyle Thompson gave them on the right, with each of them finishing with 106 points. Coming off a breakout season in the PLL, Brett Dobson is going to get the reigns full-time between the pipes in Duluth, where he put up a .779 save percentage in his rookie campaign. A full season for Ryan Lanchbury, who missed 8 games after needing an appendectomy will also help the consistency aspect for a still relatively young offense. They will also have all four Thompson brothers on the roster for the first time, with Miles returning to the lineup after a torn ACL last season, and Hiana signing with the team after playing last season in Albany.

Saskatchewan Rush

• Two games against: Halifax, Vancouver, New York, Calgary
• Local: vs Rochester December 9, @ Buffalo March 8

Back-to-back 8-10 seasons have officially closed the door on the Rush dynasty of the second half of the 2010s, signified by the departures of Mark Matthews, Marty Dinsdale, Ryan Dilks, Kyle Rubisch, and Matt Beers. However, Derek Keenan is not interested in a teardown, and with the guys that they did leave, in comes Patrick Dodds, Zach Manns, Cam Wengreniuk, and Nathaniel Kozevnikov with opportunities for bigger roles alongside Robert Church coming off a 51-goal, 53 assist season and Ryan Keenan, who will take over as captain. The trade for Frank Scigliano has the Rush hopeful that their goaltending issues since the departure of Evan Kirk (who is now their goaltending coach) come to an end, and with that, the wins return too.

New York Riptide

• Two games against: Philadelphia, Toronto, Albany, Saskatchewan
• Local: @ Buffalo January 19, @ Rochester April 6

The name of the game this offseason was the defense, as their -42 goal differential was heavily weighted by their 243 goals allowed (second most in the league). Additions of Mitch Wilde, John LaFontaine, and Matthew Bennett have the Riptide hoping to help Cameron Dunkerley along in what will be his first full season as the team’s starting goaltender. With Jeff Teat already leading the league in points in his second NLL season with 136 last year, it’s only a matter of time until the wins start coming more consistently for the Riptide. The question is when that starts.

Vancouver Warriors

• Two games against: Georgia, Colorado, Las Vegas, Saskatchewan
• Local: @ Rochester December 23. vs Buffalo March 1

The league removed the wild card playoff spot, but don’t let that make you think that there won’t be a wild card in the league this year. The Vancouver Warriors have the attention of the entire NLL. The team that gave up the most goals in the NLL last year, the Warriors have added Ryan Dilks and Matt Beers, as well as last year’s third overall pick, Owen Grant, to their back end. The addition of Kevin Crowley should help take some of the load off of Keegan Bal and Kyle Killen, and Adam Charalambides is expected to be the top option on the left side. In net, the veteran Aaron Bold will look to provide a full season of stability alongside a second year for Aden Walsh and Connor O’Toole, who was the first goalie off the board in this year’s draft at 18 overall. The pieces are coming together, and having Curt Malawsky at the helm in itself is a reason for optimism especially compared to the lack of stability that last season brought in BC.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs

• Two games against: Albany, Panther City, San Diego, Vancouver
• Local: @ Rochester February 24, vs Buffalo April 20

There wasn’t too much offseason movement in Vegas this summer, but that is more a product of their youth than anything else. Dylan Watson, who went second overall in 2022, joins the forward group that saw a breakout rookie campaign last season from Jack Hannah and returns veteran presences in Rob Hellyer and Zack Greer. Landon Kells put up a .765 save percentage as he took over the reigns in net in his first full season of work, and the next step from him this season could go a long way for a team that won 4 of 5 midseasons before only winning one game in the final two months. It would be nice to have Adam Poitras this season after being taken second in this past draft, but he will be next year’s team’s benefit.

Albany FireWolves

• Two games against: Las Vegas, Buffalo, New York, Rochester
• Local: vs Buffalo December 9, @ Buffalo February 24, @ Rochester March 9, vs Rochester March 16

A 3-15 record doesn’t suggest a lot of positives for last year’s FireWolves, but their very young offensive core had a collection of career years, led by 68 points from Connor Kelly and 56 from Ethan Walker. While their defense lost John LaFontaine and Brett Manney, the return of Joe Nardella should help their possession differential immensely, A healthy season for Doug Jamieson should also go a long way for the FireWolves as they aim to steal games. They will await Dyson Williams next season as a future #1 on offense, as the 2023 top pick will finish his career at Duke before turning pro in 2024-25.