Toronto Rock
Forwards: Kieran McArdle, Mike MacDonald, Brett Hickey, Turner Evans, Stephan Leblanc, Tom Schreiber, Kasey Beirnes, Dan Lintner
Transition: Jesse Gamble, Connor Buczek, Challen Rogers, Brodie Merrill
Defense: Sandy Chapman, Bradley Kri, Jeff Gilbert, Damon Edwards, Billy Hostrawser, Latrell Harris
Goalies: Nick Rose, Steve Fryer
New Faces: With Brock Sorensen, Rob Marshall, Patrick Merrill, Brandon Miller and Rob Hellyer all off the floor with various injuries, a ton of room has opened up in Toronto for new opportunity.
In comes three MLL all-stars, each with next-to-no box experience, in an attempt to do anything to fix the atrocity that was the 2016 Toronto Rock, the team that didn’t win until their seventh game of the season. Tom Schrieber, Kieran McArdle and Connor Buczek all made the 20-man cut after being thought of as just publicity stunts in the beginning. The trio has the brains, athleticism and silky smooth hands to make it a reality. It also doesn’t hurt that Schrieber/McArdle’s headline sponsor Warrior and Buczek’s StringKing both made deals with the NLL to let sponsored players use the manufacturers’ equipment this season.
The second-overall draft pick, Challen Rogers, will be a staple of the offense as soon as he hits the floor, bringing a lot of promise to Ontario after such a prosperous career growing up in Coquitlam. Second rounder Latrell Harris will be by far the youngest cat in the locker room, but the defenseman has raised some eyebrows with his athletic prowess and has raised a ton of eyebrows already. Bailing out of playing NCAA ball at High Point, the 18 year old is in a great place to learn from Toronto’s big, veteran defensive unit. Lefty forward Mikey MacDonald will join as the only non-rookie pickup, coming in from New England in the offseason.
