Following today’s announcement that Matt Vinc will be retiring, it opens up the door to a lot of options for fellow former goaltender, GM Steve Dietrich, to go in the search for his replacement.

Youth In House

The Bandits drafted Evan Constantopoulos with the 38th overall pick in the 2023 NLL draft. The 6’6 230 lb Oakville native who doesn’t turn 22 until next month appeared in 36:25 of action across three games in 2026, the bulk of which came in relief on January 31 in a 20-9 loss to the Mammoth. His other two appearances were 3:58 of garbage time in a 15-5 win over Vancouver and of course 4:08 after Georgia chased Vinc in what we now know to have been his final game in the first round of this year’s playoffs. In almost 4,000 minutes in juniors with the Oakville Buzz and Orangeville Northmen, he had an .844 save percentage, including a 7.23 GAA and .857 save percentage in the 2025 Minto Cup with the Northmen.

It’s not unheralded for a 22 year old to be a starter for an NLL team in this era, but it’d be hard to imagine the Bandits not looking for a stop gap while he continues to develop and the team still has a championship core. Behind him is the 19 year old Waukiigan Shognosh, who was selected 14th overall in last year’s draft following a Goaltender of the Year season with the Peterborough Jr Lakers. This season with Kitchner, he had an 8.25 GAA and .819 stat line in 9 games before a transfer to BC where he finished out the year for the Port Coquitlam Saints, maintaining strong play with a 5.64/.885 in the regular season and then a 8.66/.817 in 4 playoff games. Shognosh is in the same place Constantopoulos was when he was drafted in terms of still being a couple of years away and probably holding down the fort as the team’s third string goalie again if they do make another move.

Bringing Them Back

Before Constatopoulos stepped in as the backup, Steven Orleman held the position until being traded to the Toronto Rock in January for an upcoming 2026 third round pick following a midseason injury to Nick Rose. Now 27, Orleman became the starter for the 2021-22 New York Riptide for two seasons, playing the most ever minutes by a rookie in a single season with 986:56. After being traded to Buffalo in the 2023 offseason, Orleman played in just under 60 full minutes across the next three seasons for Buffalo as Vinc’s backup. After being traded to the Rock, he only appeared in one game, stopping 22 of 29 in relief of Troy Holowchuk. With Rose still holding down the starting spot and Holowchuk being the heir to the spot, there’s a chance Dietrich and Jamie Dawick send the netminder back to Buffalo via trade. Or Dawick and Orleman could agree that being the #3 until Rose retires is fine. But there’s a chance.

Also of the former backup variety, Devlin Shanahan backed up Vinc in 2023 and 2024 before Orleman took the backup job from him. Before that, he was their third goalie following being selected in the 4th round of the 2018 draft. Shanahan was the third goalie in Ottawa in 2025 but did not appear in any games. This season, he was Brett Dobson’s backup in Georgia but struggled in his 57:41 of play, with a .640 save percentage and 18.72 GAA, the bulk of which came in a very weird near comeback by the Halifax Thunderbirds in a game in March where they scored on Shanahan 6 times in 5:15.

There is one more of Vinc’s former backups in Buffalo that could be out there this summer, but it’s more complicated.

Dispersal Targets

As of today (August 20), there is still nothing concrete about whether the Ottawa Black Bears and Philadelphia Wings will have new homes this season. When Panther City folded in 2024, it was announced the last weekend of August. With free agency already pushed back to September 1, that feels like the hard cutoff data again this time around, so time is ticking.

If the worst case scenario plays out and both teams disperse, it could mean well for the Bandits depending on where they they land in the draft order (which may not just be inverse of standings if two teams disperse – it’s complicated).

Starting with the former Bandit, 35 year old Zach Higgins was part of a tandem with Alex Buque in 2018, which was the season before Vinc signed in free agency. After backing Vinc up in 2019, he was traded to the Philadelphia Wings where he put up a 9.44/.815 in a covid-shortened 14 games. After three more seasons with the Wings, he was traded to Ottawa after the last dispersal draft opened the Wings up to another upcoming member of this list. In two seasons with Ottawa, he has played over 1000 minutes in each, with a 10.86/.776 in 2026. Selecting Higgins if he is available at the time Buffalo picks would be a fit for that win-now profile. The 12 year vet has faced a lot of rubber the last 5 seasons, and it could be of benefit to him to be in front of a Bandit defense that has played around allowing the shots their goaltender wants to see.

Nick Damude fell to the Wings as the third selection of the Panther City dispersal draft after Will Malcom went first to Colorado and Jonathan Donville went second to Las Vegas. That move is what allowed Paul Day to move Higgins to Ottawa for a 2027 first round pick. Now at 27, Damude has 5 seasons under his belt as a full-time starting goaltender — three with Panther City and two with Philadelphia. For his career, Damude is a .790 goaltender and had his best season last year with a 10.99/.811 in front of a Wings team that struggled for much of the season. His signature win last season would’ve come in his 47 save win in Buffalo. It’s not a given that he would be the first goalie taken off the board, but he would be the likeliest of the three to have long-term Bandit interest. Like Vinc, Damude grew up in the St. Catharines region and played Junior A with the Athletics.

Rounding out the goaltending options is the most talked about “sleeper” of the potential dispersal options in Deacan Knott. The 23 year old has backed up Higgins and Damude in each of the last three seasons to the tune of 569:45 of total playing time with an 11.58/.772. Last season, he played the most he’s played in an NLL season with 298:59 and had his best numbers with 205 saves on 259 shots faced for a 10.84/.792. Where he goes in the draft may have a ripple effect of where the other two goaltenders go even if it’s not Knott (sorry…) being picked by the Bandits.

Chiefs

This is where the chances become less likely of guys being on the 2026-27 Bandits, but they have a case.

Starting with the next two goalies John Tavares has the most familiarity with because of their time as the tandem for the Six Nations Chiefs in Major Series Lacrosse, who also feature a myriad of Bandits including Dhane Smith, Josh Byrne, and Ian MacKay. First is the UFA Warren Hill. While he is expected to re-sign in Halifax after backstopping their run to the finals from the 8-seed this spring, there’s a chance he picks up a phone call from the Bandits brass to hear the pitch if nothing else. Hill had a 10.12/.804 across the regular season and playoffs in his age 33 season.

The other Chiefs goaltender is Doug Jamieson, who Bandits fans may remember from facing him and his Albany FireWolves in the 2024 finals. One of the most consistent goaltenders of the last 7 seasons, Jamieson has gone from New England to Albany to Oshawa as the face of the FireWolves franchise over that time despite up and down seasons in front of him. After an 11.01/.792 in 2026, Jamieson’s 10th NLL season this upcoming season will be the final year of his current contract in Oshawa. There’s no word on whether or not Jamieson would be looking to walk to free agency next summer, nor is there any inclination of whether or not GM Glenn Clark will look to trade him if the FireWolves are off to a start that suggests a third straight missed playoff, but the stars feel like they could very easily be aligning here.

But, the FireWolves could also be 10 or so days away from adding Jeff Teat to their already loaded offense if the Black Bears are done, so it’s no given that Oshawa isn’t thinking about the playoffs in 2027.

Rapid Fire

Again, not names that are tied to the Bandits at all or even been openly discussed as on the move, but it’s worth exploring because if any of them do turn out to be available either now, at the deadline, or in the 2027 offseason, the Bandits will certainly be making phone calls. (No particular order except for a general likelihood of their availability making sense. Slash lines are 2026 minutes played, )

• Landon Kells (Las Vegas Desert Dogs, Age 25, 696:30/12.66/.755): Kells is the leader of the Goaltenders Who Could Use A Change Of Scenery category. While his numbers improved between 2025 and 2026, he played the least he’s played in a season since joining the Desert Dogs in their inaugural expansion season in 2023. Vegas is all in on their quest to make their first playoff berth this season after last year was partially derailed by key injuries, and with Caleb Kahn being their goaltender of the future, there could be some goaltending tinkering coming out of the desert to make that more likely. The dispersal draft could make that easier to accomplish and lead to Kells getting that change of scenery after all.
• Aden Walsh (Calgary Roughnecks, Age 25, 932:27/11.65/.777): At points of last season, it was looking like the Roughnecks had established Aden Walsh as their new franchise goaltender despite their young roster struggling for most of the way in front of him. And then Colby Bowman played some of the best lacrosse you’ll ever see in the last two games of the season, including giving up 1 goal on 39 shots faced in 41:35 of relief against the FireWolves. Bowman is only a year younger than the 25 year old Walsh, but after that finish to the year and a three-year contract extension signed this summer, Bowman might have created a goaltending competition in Alberta this fall that could put Walsh on the move again after arriving in Calgary via the Christian Del Bianco trade.
• Rylan Hartley (Rochester Knighthawks, Age 28, 634:01/12.02/.766): Hartley has one year left on his deal in Rochester, and as of right now, it appears that the trio of Troy Cordingley, Phil Sanderson, and a goaltending coach to be named later (according to Cordingley on his Coaches Calls Podcast appearance last month) will get the chance to see if they can help Hartley get back into form after last season derailed in January. The team traded Riley Hutchcraft to Halifax for Drew Hutchison yesterday to change up the goalie room and create competition for the starting role, so we’ll see what happens there. Hartley’s talent and flare for the excitement has never been a question in his 6 NLL seasons. It’s always been durability and consistency. He could be an option for the Bandits in a case where either of their current goalies are ahead of their development trajectories and are ready for a “Hot Hand” tandem for a season or two.
• No other explanation other than “These guys are probably their teams’ goalies of the future, unless the teams get bored or the players ask to play closer to their Ontario homes.”: Nate Whittom (COL), Connor O’Toole (VAN), and Thomas Kiazyk (SAS)
• Brett Dobson (Georgia Swarm, Age 26, 1022:45/7.86/.847): I AM ACKNOWLEDGING UP FRONT THAT THIS IS CURRENTLY A 10/10 ON THE PIE IN THE SKY SCALE. But…the reigning NLL MVP would be the biggest of swings and a win for our friends down in Olean!

More, of course, to come.

(Photo Credit: Buffalo Bandits)