Recent PLL Expansion Could Have a Lot Of Guys On the Outside looking In
With the recent merger of the Premier Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse being now under one umbrella of the Premier Lacrosse League, there will be a lot of players who may have had a shot of making a PLL roster in 2021, who will now be potentially be on the outside looking in. For this piece, I will only focus on guys who were on PLL rosters in 2020 or in the PLL Player Pool in 2020, expansion draft movement and MLL movement predictions will be saved for another piece. I have broken this down by each of the seven teams for 2020 and then analysis of why I chose these players.
Disclosure: There are a ton of great players in pro lacrosse, anyone on this list could very easily make a roster and I hope my list is somewhat wrong to a point. All of these guys can definitely play and this is not to diminish any of their careers.
Archers LC: Drew Adams, Davey Emela, Jack Rapine, Tyler Pfister, Jackson Place, Austin Sims
Analysis: In the cases of Emala and Austin Sims, I desperately hope I'm wrong these guys are talented and I think they may fall victims of the numbers game as far as roster spots go. Drew Adams makes a roster if he decides to play but is that set and stone yet? I hope Jackson Place is healthy enough to play this summer but even if he is, once again he could fall victim to the numbers game while trying to work his way back.
Atlas LC: Callum Robinson, Scotty Rodgers, Connor Buzeck, Jeremy Thompson, Kevin Unterstein, James Panell, Andrew Hodgson, Brent Noseworthy.
Analysis: Buzeck is the suprise on here and this is not because I don’t think there is a spot in the league for him but rather the fact if he were to land the permanent Head Coaching gig at Cornell, would he consider retirement. The Atlas are likely to want to upgrade on defense which would leave guys like Robinson and Hodgson potentially on the outside looking in. Could KU potentially hang it up? I’ll say this over and over but these guys are talented and I hope they find a spot either on the Atlas or somewhere in this league.
Chrome LC: Matt Danowski, Ryan Flanagan, Brett Queener, Brendan Kavanagh, Foster Huggins, Greg Coholan
Analysis: The Chromeback was officially on in 2020 and I’m frankly not sure if they would want to break apart too much of that team they had more than they already have too. With a ton of midfield talent coming over from the MLL and in the college draft if he doesn’t hang up the cleats I think despite being a great locker room presence little Dino may be on the outside looking in for a roster spot in the PLL. Brendan Kavanuagh played well in the bubble but with the plethora of attackmen coming out of the college draft and from the MLL he could be a fringe guy with a chance to make a practice roster if they exist in 2021.
Chaos: Tyson Bell, Austin Hegningsen, Dan Coates, Johnny Surdick, Matt Rees
Analyisis: This was probably the hardest group of guys to figure out for me. These guys can all play in the league and it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t. Bell played excellent with both the short stick and the long pole in the bubble and the only reason I put him on this list is because of the potential conflict with the NLL season. Same thing for Coates and I think Surdick and Rees could be on the outside looking in because of potential military commitments. In the case of Hennigsen, he hasn’t played a lot and I think there is just too much face-off talent for him to find a spot at this very moment.
Redwoods: Brendan Gleason, Chris Price, Gunnar Waldt, Peyton Smith, Greg Puskuldijan, Nick Osello
Analyisis: For the love of lax-twitter I hope Osello makes a roster but he could be a potential victim of the numbers game. In the cases of Smith and Puskuldjan, I think there is just too many good face-off men coming over although Smith will have a lot to prove and could potentially find his way onto a practice roster, with time he could be a starter in this league.
Waterdogs: Ben Reeves, Charlie Ciprano, Kyle Mcclancy, Brian Karalunas, Drew Simeanou
Analyisis: For three of these four guys, I think it could be a matter of if they decide they don’t want to continue playing. In the case of Mcclancy, the amount of D-middies that will be coming over will be insane and even after playing well in 2019, I think he could be a fringe guy going into 2021.
Whipsnakes: Ty Warner(announced commitment to med school), Joe Lacasio(announced retirement), Max Tuttle, Brett Schmidt, Dylan Maltz, Sean New
Analyisis: As stated Warner and Locasiso have already announced they won’t be playing in 2021. Maltz didn’t play well in 2019 and was on the restricted roster in 2020 and I do not think he makes a roster in 2021. New, Tuttle and Schmidt could fall victims to the numbers game with a ton of young talent coming over from MLL and the college draft.
With that being said, we are going from 13 teams in pro lacrosse down to eight. Its unfortunate that we won’t see some talented guys but I think we will truly see the best product of the game in awhile as competition is anced up a little bit more and the fight for roster spots will be intense. I’ll discuss more expansion draft predictions and shocker guys that could make rosters at later dates. I look forward to the 2021 PLL season.
