For many across the league, the Knighthawks making the playoffs last season, their first in the Expansion Era, was a huge accomplishment. But with the way their season slammed shut, the team themselves were not satisfied and had their eyes set on more lofty places, aiming to prove they were more like the team that started 8-2 than the one that finished 2-6 and bowed out after one playoff game.

Healthy on the Back End

The losses piling up toward the end of the season were in part due to a handful of injuries on defense. Dan Coates only appeared in 11 games, while Ryland Rees, Tyler Biles, and Halls, and Brad Gillies each missed time. Not only are each of those guys back and healthy to start the season, but right off the bat, they will have Thomas Whitty back in the lineup after missing the entire season last year due to injury. as well as Cory Highfield, who is starting the season on the practice squad after also missing the full 2022-23 season. Paul Dawson moved on to Colorado in free agency. Still, he will be replaced by Ethan O’Connor, who made his biggest contribution to last season’s Bandits championship run with his special teams work and shot-blocking. Ben Macdonnell made the active roster after going 16th in September’s draft, and he will be joined in the rookie room by UDFA Taylor Jensen, who made the practice roster after a strong preseason coming off of a stellar career at RIT.

Joined with Rees and Gillies in transition were two guys who played the full season last year and had career breakout years: Matt Gilray and Mitch Ogilvie. The continuity on the back end has the Hawks looking to carry over another strong start.

Joe Post made the team out of camp and will be their full-time faceoff man. The Fisher graduate joined the team for their last 5 games and converted at a 48.1% rate with 28 loose balls. Rochester also aims to develop Connor Farrell into a box athlete, having made a name for himself in his lacrosse career with the Chrome in the PLL, but he too will be starting the season on the PUP list after having offseason surgery.

Different Mix Up Front

A conversation about the Knighthawks offense must start with the work of Connor Fields, who broke out with 112 points (52G 60A) in 17 games last season and added a 5-point night in their playoff game. The 28-year-old lefty will lead a unit that will look different this year. Holden Cattoni being traded to Philadelphia during the offseason opened up the #2 lefty spot for Thomas McConvey, who was selected first overall by the team in the 2022 draft before he finished his collegiate career with Virginia this past spring. While McConvey hasn’t played box since the 2021 OJLL bubble showcase (he spent the summer in the PLL with the Waterdogs), he has had the opportunity to get heavy volume during the preseason and aims to be a natural pick-and-roll partner for Fields with his 6’4″ frame as he gets re-acquainted indoors. Turner Evans and newly acquired Dan Lomas will likely split the #3 time on the left side in an inside-out role with the two marquee lefties McConvey and Fields.

As they did last season, the Knighthawks will again be going righty-heavy with their forward unit, led by Ryan Smith who is entering his third NLL season after a career-high 75 points (33G 42A) in 17 games. Curtis Knight will share the ball-handling duties coming off a 42-assist season in 16 games, as his 57 points in 16 games were his highest point-per-game mark since his 72-point 2014 season with the Edmonton Rush. Young size rounds out the righties with Austin Hasen entering his second season after an up-and-down rookie year, and Kyle Waters who is expected to get more opportunities in his third season after 8 goals and 17 assists in 16 games with the Roughnecks last year, coming over in the draft day trade that allowed the team to draft Macdonnell in exchange for Thomas Hoggarth and Thomas Vela. The team also added the veteran Stephen Keogh in the offseason, but he will be starting on the PUP list after 54 points with the Rock last year.

Hart and Soul

As was the case heading into last season, Rylan Hartley’s success will be crucial as the foundation for the Knighthawks. He managed to stay healthy for the full season after a concussion-shortened season in 2021-22, putting up a save percentage of over .800 in 8 of the 18 games. The Knighthawks went 6-2 in those games, with one of those losses coming in a 9-8 duel in Toronto where he had an .873 with 55 saves on 63 SOG. With it having been his first full season as an NLL starter, a big goal for Hartley headed into 2024 will be to carry the strong play for the full 18-game slate, as 4 of his final 5 games of the season were among his worst of the year, ending the regular season being pulled after 8 goals in 24:22 and then visibly losing his composure as the Bandits poured goals on in the playoff game, finishing with 15 allowed in 50:41. The team trusts the 26-year-old Riley Hutchcraft if by chance Hartley does go down, but with only 51 total minutes played for Hutchcraft last season, this is the 25-year-old Hartley’s team.

General Outlook

It’s going to be harder this year to give a good outlook on what is to be expected for any single team with the now unified standings and a more balanced schedule, but the Knighthawks will certainly find themselves in the mix once again for the playoffs with the hopes to position themselves to get out of the first round and, in turn, bring the first playoff game to Rochester since June 2018. Learning from last year’s highs and lows will be the goal regardless for a still relatively young Knighthawks team.

Week 1: Saturday December 2 vs Calgary, Blue Cross Arena @ 7:00 (ESPN+)

The Knighthawks start the season with 4 straight games against former Western conference teams, starting with the Calgary Roughnecks this weekend. It will be a good test to start the season with the Roughnecks returning mostly the same roster that went 13-5 last season. Of course, the biggest change is their coaching staff, with Josh Sanderson taking over the reins with Curt Malawsky heading to Vancouver. The Knighthawks were fortunate to not have to face the NLL MVP Christian Del Bianco last season, as the now 26-year-old had a 9.28 GAA with an .810 SV%. Their transition game helped push their offense forward after losing Curtis Dickson last offseason, with Transition Player of the Year Zach Currier registering 33 points and 228 loose balls and Shane Simpson adding 28 points of his own. On offense, Jesse King led the team with 100 points, with Tyler Pace (74 points) and Tanner Cook (63 points) rounding out their top 3. The last time the Roughnecks faced Rochester, the Knighthawks snapped the Riggers five game win streak with an April 22nd 15-7 win.

It will be Western Knight at Blue Cross Arena, with the first 1,000 fans getting a Knighthawks boot pint glass and other Western-themed promotions and activities.

As for the rest of the schedule, the four opponents that they will face twice will be Buffalo (vs 1/13, @ 2/3), Halifax, Albany, and Georgia, and they will have one back-to-back weekend, heading to Georgia on April 19th before ending the regular season at home against Philadelphia on April 21.

Week 1 Around The League

As with last season, all games are available on ESPN+ in the US and TSN+ in Canada

• Friday, December 1
  • Saskatchewan Rush @ Halifax Thunderbirds, 7:00 pm, TSN Game of the Week Double Header Game 1
  • Panther City @ Vancouver Warriors, 10:00 pm, TSN Game of the Week Double Header Game 2
  • Albany FireWolves @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs, 10:00 pm
• Saturday, December 2
  • Philadelphia Wings @ New York Riptide, 7:30 pm, ESPN2

Photo Credit: Micheline Veluvolu/ Rochester Knighthawks