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#Post#: 20--------------------------------------------------
From NLL.com : Draft Recap
DIR By: GonzoInRoch
Date: September 25, 2020, 9:41 am
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It didn’t look the same, it didn’t sound the same, draft day
negotiations were held in an atypical fashion, but the 2020 NLL
Entry Draft provided the familiar sense of excitement, surprise,
and intrigue that we are have grown accustomed to over the
years.
Following the expected 1st overall selection of Jeff Teat going
to the New York Riptide, the draft was filled with storylines
including significant trades, players dropping below
expectations, teams leaving undeniable footprints of their
strategy, and Americans becoming ever-more present box
prospects.
With one of the earliest draft day trades in league history, the
Vancouver Warriors wasted no time asserting themselves by
trading their 3rd pick to the Rochester Knighthawks to grab the
2nd pick. This was done to capture Reid Bowering, a
multi-talented, imposing defenseman, who will likely bolster the
team’s back-end for years to come. It appeared, unsurprisingly,
that many teams were eager to get their hands on an impeccable
specimen like Bowering, which pushed the Warriors to make their
move.
“We are excited to draft Reid today,” Warriors GM Dan Richardson
said. “Reid is a generational-talent on defense and is one of
those hybrid players that can excel at both ends of the floor.
We cannot wait for Reid to join our franchise and have an
immediate impact on our team and the NLL.”
Interestingly, Bowering is also one of many draftees heading
back to university for the final year of NCAA-eligibility after
the COVID-19 virus canceled the 2020 collegiate season. In fact,
all of the Top-5 draft picks (and most of the 1st round) will be
headed back to campus this coming spring semester if the season
is not canceled again. That means highly touted future NLL stars
such as Teat, Ryan Smith, Tre Leclair, Tanner Cook, and Jeff
Henrick won’t be trading in their school colors for NLL uniforms
in the 2021-2022 season.
In the case of players like Henrick, he fell further than many
of the draft experts expected. Hernick’s drop as well as many of
the night’s pick were likely influenced by the Bowering trade.
The upcoming college season can be used to prove to teams that
they made a grave mistake. Other noticeable drop-offs include
Jordan Stouros, who fell to the middle of the 2nd round – he was
projected by many to be picked in the late 1st round – and the
athletic, 6’6” mountain of a man, Ty Thompson, who also fell to
the middle of the 2nd round despite being considered by many to
be a first-round selection.
But no player fell as far as Penn State University’s Grant
Ament. Ament was eventually grabbed by the New England Black
Wolves with the 65th pick of the draft, but not before his
college teammates Mac O’Keefe and Dylan Foulds were chosen by
the San Diego Seals and Philadelphia Wings, respectively, much
earlier in the night. Ament was widely believed to go in the 2nd
round of the draft. To see him fall to late in the 4th round
raised a few eyebrows. However, if Ament is fully committed to a
full-time career in the NLL after he has finished his time at
PSU, he has the skillset to become an elite talent, making him
one of the biggest steals in this draft.
“We were focusing on offense in this draft,” Black Wolves Head
Coach and GM said. We think Ament and Michael Sowers have a very
high skill set that can translate to the NLL game.”
Other moves that turned some heads were initiated by Rochester
Knighthawks. This was due to sheer boldness. The Knighthawks
finished the night having made five trades. The swapping
involved everything from 2020 draft picks, players, and future
picks. Sitting at 2-10 when the league came to an abrupt halt,
GM Dan Carey understood the team needed a makeover. One of the
most notable trades they made was the acquisition of the Buffalo
Bandits Matt Gilray in exchange for the 19th overall selection,
a 2021 1st round pick and a 2023 2nd round pick. Stealing away a
former divisional foe will hopefully help to turn the tide in
the Knighthawks favor.
“We had some needs we wanted to address,” Knighthawks GM Dan
Carey said. “We felt the players we were fortunate enough to
acquire were a great fit for us and what we wanted to accomplish
coming out of the draft.”
While the Knighthawks were looking to shake things up, teams
like the Seals and Halifax Thunderbirds set about fulfilling
their teams’ needs. In the 1st round, the Seals didn’t mess
around, quickly grabbing dynamic, athletic offensive playmakers
and scorers like The Ohio State University-product Tre Leclair
and Penn State’s Mac O’Keefe. Even though both will be returning
to school, they will be an instant headache for defenses when
they finally break into the NLL.
As for the Thunderbirds, they shored their back-end up by
drafting the intimidating and scrappy Ethan Riggs, trading for
veteran Roughnecks defenceman Tyson Bell and taking one of the
fastest players in this year’s draft, transition player Ethan
Ticehurst.
We were trying to shore up our defense with young talented
defenders,” Thunderbirds Head Coach Mike Accursi said. “We did
that tonight. Riggs, Bell, Ryan Terefenko, and Owen Friesen are
all fantastic young, big defenders that will solidify our
defense’s strength for years to come.”
One of the biggest takeaways from the night became clearer as
fewer men were left to be chosen: Americans are quickly becoming
a larger segment of the NLL community. A game that has long been
marshaled by the Iroquois and Canadians; US players are no
longer an outlier. In this year’s draft, high-profile Americans
included O’Keefe, Michael Sowers, Charlie Kitchen, and Byran
Costabile, and had a handful of other capable talents from coast
to coast. USBOXLA continues to spread the game across America
while Canadian players do their part by showing off box skills
when they come to the states to play the field game. The
ever-growing U.S. box participation is direct proof that the
game is rapidly growing in untraditional markets.
There are many storylines to be taken from this memorable night.
Every team spent weeks preparing for draft day and sweated
through each pick to better each of their teams. This draft will
be remembered for numerous reasons, from the virtual production
to the surprising picks – a few of which have been covered – as
is the case every year, the real impact of what occurred at the
2020 NLL Entry Draft will be seen in the months, years, and even
decades ahead. That, after all, is the beauty of the draft.
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