The middle of January marked an important, yet sometimes overlooked, milestone in the MLL off-season calendar. Originally scheduled for late 2017, on Wednesday, January 17th we got the 2018 MLL Supplemental Draft. This draft is a little odd, since other leagues (like the NLL) don’t even have one. It’s also not something where you see teams making huge blockbuster trades to improve their draft standing for.
So, what’s the point?
The reason why this draft is important ties directly to the phases an MLL roster goes through in the season.
I, and others, have written about it several times, but you don’t start the year with new college draft picks, you have college coaches and NLL players with spotty availability, and the roster you end the previous season with is rarely what you have to begin the next. Retirements, trades, injuries, and a multitude of other factors always come into play as well.
This year is no different.
While each team has a protected roster large enough to start a season with, there are always spots to fill, practice squads to fill up, and training camp to prepare for. This is where you can grab a few proven, productive played to round out your roster going into camp.
Every team released guys who made the game day roster last year. Some had rookie draft picks that need their first year of work to stabilize before they knew where or how much they could commit to play. All sorts of situations start to unfold, creating some interesting opportunities for coaches and GMS. So, now we can take a look at what each team went into the draft with and what they picked up.
2018 MLL Supplemental Draft
Atlanta
What they had
The Blaze have been busy this off-season. They were going to be working through a new ownership model anyway, but then were hit with the unexpected passing of their head coach Dave Huntley just a few weeks ago. Right before the draft, it was announced that former team president and former MLL player Liam Banks will be taking over as coach.
With all this happening only a few days before this draft, things were really resting on the shoulders of GM Spencer Ford. Ford already grabbed Tommy Palasek and Matt Gibson through player movement to build up their offense, so he probably wasn’t to add too be looking for too much on that side of the field. That is of course until right before the draft, when they traded James Pannell up to Boston and sent Jesse King and Randy Staats over to Dallas.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Atlanta Dylan Donahue A Syracuse
2 Atlanta Jack Bruckner M Duke
3 Atlanta Jason Noble D Cornell
4 Atlanta Chris Madalon G North Carolina
5 Atlanta Mike Begley M Marist
6 Atlanta Jeremy Noble M Denver
7 Atlanta Jeff George M Rutgers
8 Atlanta Ryan Kilpatrick M North Carolina
9 Atlanta Sam Linares A Hofstra
10 Atlanta Nicholas Gorman D Towson
11 Atlanta Ronnie Fernando G Adams State
12 Atlanta Matt Garziano M Albany
Aux Atlanta Stephen Ianzito M Syracuse
Aux Atlanta Michael Lowe D Towson
Aux Atlanta Colin Massa D Mercer
Going in, Atlanta already had a ton of defenders and only one goalie. It made sense for them to grab a backup keeper or two and tread lightly for longpoles. It’s also not a shock to see so many middies drafted. They never really locked in on a solid middie corps last season, so this is definitely an opening.
Their first pick of Donahue did make a ton of sense, since he started the season with the Blaze last year as well. Sam Linares is also an interesting grab, as he’s a guy who produced in college, but wasn’t given much of an MLL shot.
Boston
What they had
Boston arguably has the most work to do this off-season. They let go of their long time GM, hired coaching legend Dom Starsia to run the offense, and also hired Matt Poskay as a coach. It’s still Sean Quirk’s team, but there is certainly some renewed focus and signs that this organization is ready to head back to the playoffs ASAP.
In player movement, they added Kyle Denhoff from Dallas, traded for Ryan Walsh and Scott Firman from New York (sending Matt lands down there). They never really filled a need for a true X attackman type of player who can run the offense, so this is still a big (very big) midfield oriented team.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Boston Benny Pugh G Richmond
1 Boston Tanner Scales D Virginia
2 Boston Tim Edwards M Canisius
5 Boston Jimmy Dailey A Stevenson
6 Boston Tom Hughes M NYIT
7 Boston Dylan O’Shaughnessy M Lehigh
8 Boston Jordan Greenfield A Marquette
9 Boston Alex Zomerfeld M Bryant
10 Boston Jack Forster A Penn State
11 Boston Sean Lawton M Western New England
12 Boston Jack Murphy G Fairfield
Outside of their first round of Benny Pugh and Tanner Scales, much of this draft is more about filling out a roster and prepping for camp than trying to make major additions. I do also like the addition of Tim Edward, but with the amount that Boston had to be reworked, I think we still need to see what’s coming for them with the collegiate draft and/or more trades.
Charlotte
What they had
Charlotte went into the draft with just four attackmen, a single FOGO, and disappointing end to the 2017 season. They had a multi-year plan that was well ahead of schedule with their 2016 playoff run, but they took a big step back finishing 6-8.
They also traded away Brendan Fowler, but in return they have Jake Richard to help out at SSDM. They still have a good core to work from, but could benefit from improvements just about everywhere.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Charlotte Adam Osika M Albany
2 Charlotte TJ Neubauer M Fairfield
3 Charlotte Eric Schneider G Johns Hopkins
3 Charlotte Ian King A Michigan
4 Charlotte Alex Corpolongo M Stony Brook
6 Charlotte Graham Savio M Loyola
7 Charlotte Tyler German M Virginia
8 Charlotte Hil Blaze M Furman
8 Charlotte Timothy Schwalje A Penn
9 Charlotte Zack Esser D UMBC
10 Charlotte J.D. Recor A Marist
11 Charlotte Mike Lynch M Towson
12 Charlotte John Scheich A Catawba
I love the pick of Osika right out of the gate and he should have an immediate impact. Graham Savio as a backup FOGO is also a good look since he was overshadowed by some bigger names in college, but he has MLL talent. This list is more potential than anything else. It should create some great competition in camp for those active roster spots.
Chesapeake
What they had
Chesapeake was loaded with offensive talent last season, but still missed the playoffs. Their biggest problems were with the teams who actually made playoffs, which is somewhat reassuring that they are on the right path. They could beat them, but not consistently. In their biggest move, they parted ways with coach Brian Reese, and GM Dave Cottle is stepping back down onto the sidelines.
In some ways, it provides some great continuity since Cottle was already the man behind building this team. The more talent they could grab, the better, though.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Chesapeake Luke Duprey D Duke
2 Chesapeake Matt Rees M Navy
4 Chesapeake Mark Glicini M Yale
5 Chesapeake Brian Masi M Sacred Heart
5 Chesapeake Goran Murray D Maryland
7 Chesapeake John Glesener A Army
8 Chesapeake Austin Geisler G High Point
9 Chesapeake Tyler Young M Towson
10 Chesapeake Zack Sikora D Rutgers
11 Chesapeake Jeff Froccaro A Princeton
12 Chesapeake Jason Crane D Loyola
Aux Chesapeake Kyle Weber M Bates
I honestly love this draft. Every defender they picked up could be huge, especially Mark Glicini at the SSDM spot. Adding John Glesener is always going to raise an eyebrow since he can absolutely play in the MLL, but like all recent Army grads, his availability comes with a big question mark. Nearly every player on this list could make the active roster. They should probably sell tickets to training camp.
Dallas
What they had
The Rattlers had quite the off-season. Not much news was coming out of Rochester prior to their eventual relocation to Dallas. Once that was announced, nearly every player who had entered player movement decided to sign back on with the team. The only departure was midfielder Kyle Denhoff. Due to their status being in flux for so long, they largely missed out on trades and other player movement signings leading up to the relocation.
What this means is that the Rattlers from last year are largely intact. It also means that like previous years, they are going to have to deal with more NLL commitments than most teams. For the supplemental draft, that translated to getting game ready players early, and trying to grab a few ‘local’ players later on for the practice squad. They are no longer an upstate NY team, so some light recalibration is in order.
Even with a new coach, this first season is going to be more about keeping some continuity than remaking themselves as the first MLL team in Texas. Then, just before the draft they pulled in former Rattlers Jesse King and Randy Staats. It appears they are going back to their old ways of loading up on NLL players. While it did work for them before, it makes the early season pretty risky.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Dallas Jack Curran M Villanova
2 Dallas John Moderski M Villanova
3 Dallas Mike O’Neil M Cornell
4 Dallas Brian Kormondy M Delaware
5 Dallas Zack Greer A Bryant
6 Dallas Kyle Rowe M Duke
7 Dallas Christian Carson-Banister G Boston
9 Dallas Kris Alleyne G Rutgers
10 Dallas Luke Cometti M Syracuse
11 Dallas Zach Price D High Point
12 Dallas Cody Radziewicz M Johns Hopkins
A few of these players do have Texas ties, but the most interesting one is definitely Zack Greer. Once he’s done with the NLL season, throwing him in with fellow Duke grads like Jordan Wolf and Ned Crotty could yield some fantastic results. I would also love to see Carson-Banister out of BU get a shot, but goalie is one spot where the Rattlers are already loaded. With John Galloway locked in as a starter and Blaze Riorden not having NLL issues as of right now, that will be a tough spot to break into.
Denver
What they had
The Outlaws are coming off a championship game loss, but are still the model of consistency for the league. While they do still have some conflicts with the NLL, it’s not as bad as some past season and they are still loaded with young talent.
They didn’t do much with trades or player movement, but they picked up Josh Hawkins in player movement and traded away Mike Bocklet to New York. They didn’t need to add much anywhere, but they never shy from adding more talent whenever they can.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Denver Chris Fennell D Navy
2 Denver Dillon Ward G Bellarmine
3 Denver Henry Schoonmaker M Syracuse
4 Denver Mike Diener D Hofstra
4 Denver Nick Tintle M North Carolina
5 Denver Shawn Evans A Bellarmine
5 Denver Greg Wozniak M Boston
6 Denver Dylan Maltz A Maryland
7 Denver Elijah Conte M Delaware
7 Denver Eli Gobrecht D Ithaca
8 Denver Wilkins Dismuke A Johns Hopkins
9 Denver Mike Nugent G Mercer
10 Denver Mike Hernandez M Michigan
11 Denver Conor Healey A St. Lawrence
12 Denver Kieran Eissler M Johns Hopkins
I love this idea of Dillon Ward being on the team with Jack Kelly. Going into the world games, they could have both US and Canada’s goalies sitting on their active roster fighting for time. What a problem to have.
The other fascinating grab here is Shawn Evans. He proved he can play field well in his short stint with the Bayhawks last season. But imagine Kavanaugh & Evans out there feeding Eric Law with Wes Berg, Drew Snider, and Jeremy Sieverts up top. Yikes.
The dark horse of this group certainly has to be the D3 product Conor Healey. One member of the team mentioned him as a guy who can absolutely play if given the shot. Well, he just got his shot.
Florida
What they had
Coming off of a fantastic season that was capped off with their first ever playoff berth, the Launch are actually in a spot not too different than Denver. They’re loaded with young talent, built mostly through this most recent collegiate draft.
Dylan Molloy, Ryan Drenner, Nick Mariano, and Jarrod Neumann were thrown onto a solid base of Kieran McArdle, Connor Buczek, Austin Kaut, and Tucker Durkin. That means for this draft they were playing with house money and didn’t really have specific needs to fill. Talent was talent.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Florida Tom Moore A Binghamton
2 Florida Andrew Sellers D Salisbury
3 Florida Kevin Gayhardt D Penn
5 Florida Shane Doss G Notre Dame
6 Florida John Edmonds M Cornell
7 Florida Bryan Cole M Maryland
8 Florida Brett Moyer D Hofstra
9 Florida Charlie Ford D Georgetown
10 Florida Andy Demichiei M Marquette
11 Florida Conor Whipple A Tampa
12 Florida Peter Ricci D Loyola
Aux Florida Riley Piper M Tampa
I love the pick of Moore at number one. He was a bit of an NCAA journeyman who was dominant as he wrapped up his career in Binghamton. The Blaze gave him a shot at middle, but he’s definitely more of a natural attack. Edmonds, Cole, and Doss are all guys who have a serious shot at the gameday roster. Doss especially is a great grab to be Kat’s backup in net. Their list also has names plenty familiar to the MLL like Ricci and Sellers. This was a solid and successful draft for the Launch.
New York
What they had
New York missing the playoffs was a massive disappointment for such a star studded lineup. They don’t have a spot on the field where someone isn’t capable of player of the year awards. But, they still saw several departures (Palasek, Gibson, Firman, Walsh, and Richards), they in return for draft picks, Matt Landis, and Brenden Fowler.
They also do not have many NLL concerns, and very few of their players have NCAA commitments. So anyone they drafted, is trying out for the main roster.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
2 New York Greg Danseglio D Maryland
3 New York Nick Galasso M Syracuse
4 New York Kevin Cunningham A Villanova
6 New York Dan Groot M Maryland
8 New York Robert Duvnjak D Harvard
9 New York Pat Frazier D Loyola
10 New York Joe Seider A Towson
11 New York Pat Laconi M Loyola
12 New York Luke Goldstock M North Carolina
Aux New York Matt Schultz A Stony Brook
Aux New York Christian Scuderi D Hofstra
Aux New York Brian Neff G Ursinus
Aux New York Brian Carcaterra G Johns Hopkins
The Lizards grabbed a bunch of talent that originally hails from Long Island, which isn’t a huge surprise since it allows for better and more complete practices with the team. Worst case, some of these guys go to the practice squad, which would actually be quite impressive. What is great with this draft is they added talent at every position. There is no spot where their protected roster will not be pushed for playing time.
I honestly can’t point to a single pick here that I cannot see suiting up on gameday. The one qualifier there might be Brian Carcaterra. The 2000 Johns Hopkins grad is one of the extremely rare cases where you can get a current, not future hall of famer on your team. He’s certainly not too old to play, but it’s an interesting pick.
Ohio
What they had
Last, but not least, are the defending champs, the Machine. Ohio has not been very active in the offseason so far. They haven’t been making trades or picking up anyone via player movement. They really have not really had the need. One of the benefits of winning the championship is you know you’re in good shape.
When you also know you’re not losing players to retirement and player movement, things are good. Like the Launch, the Machine were in a spot where just grabbing the best available was the course of action.
What they got
ROUND TEAM PLAYER POSITION COLLEGE
1 Ohio Ryan Ambler A Princeton
2 Ohio Garrett Thul A Army
3 Ohio Jordan Evans A Syracuse
3 Ohio Alex Spring D Bucknell
4 Ohio Michael Quinn D Yale
4 Ohio Mark Matthews A Denver
5 Ohio Casey Dowd M Siena
6 Ohio Evan Connell D North Carolina
6 Ohio Mackenzie Pons D Maryland
7 Ohio Evan Molloy G Syracuse
8 Ohio Henry West M Maryland
9 Ohio Mike Rooney A Stony Brook
10 Ohio Greg Melaugh A Merrimack
11 Ohio J.T. Blubaugh M Ohio State
12 Ohio Pat Farrell D High Point
This draft was just full of intrigue for Ohio. First, it needs to be noted the legend of Garrett Thul. The guy hasn’t played meaningful time in years, yet draft after draft in the MLL and NLL, he keeps getting picked. Think of all the talent out there that goes overlooked, but he keeps getting the call over and over again.
Aside from Thul, Mark Matthews is an excellent pick. If he works out, it’s just pure bonus for an offense like this. Jordan Evans in the third round is an interesting one, too. He did not live up to his #1 recruit expectations, but he can play. He has the potential to excel as a role player, which is all the Machine would need him to do.
I also love the defenders picked up here. A guy like Michael Quinn could fit seamlessly into the aggressive, physical style of play already in place at Ohio. Mac Pons also jumps out at me as another guy who could see some time for Ohio. Alex Spring had a great LSM career at Bucknell, but I’m not sure how much time he’ll really see with Karalunas taking the majority of time at that spot.
