Editor’s Note: This is part of an ongoing series, previewing each NLL team as the season approaches. Today, we preview the Georgia Swarm. The Swarm are coming off of a Conference Finals appearance and look to add another NLL Cup to their trophy case. See our other previews here: Calgary Roughnecks, New England Black Wolves, Colorado Mammoth, Buffalo Bandits, Toronto Rock, Saskatchewan Rush, Philadelphia Wings, San Diego Seals, Vancouver Warriors
For the Georgia Swarm, there are few reasons not to carry a high amount of optimism going into the season. They lost by just one goal to Rochester, who went the distance with the Rush in the finals last year. And, they return most of that core team. For the Swarm, it really is all about Lyle Thompson and Randy Staats. Ever since they arrived, the Swarm have not missed the playoffs, and have come off two straight seasons of being the best team in the East’s regular season. But that was then, this is now.
History:
2014: 4-14, Missed playoffs
2015: 6-12, Missed playoffs
2016: 8-10, 3rd in the East, lost in 1st round
2017: 13-5, 1st in the East, won Championship
2018: 11-7, 1st in the East, lost in Conference Finals
Who they lost
Off-seasons always bring change and the potential for losing big pieces of your team. When that is compounded with league expansion, keeping a strong team together can be a real challenge. For the Swarm, their day one roster is missing from last year: Jesse King, Kiel Matisz, Jordan Hall, Johnny Powless, Frank Brown, Joel White, EthanO’Connor, Brayden Hill and Warren Hill.
Out of the offensive door, Hall, King and Matisz are the big losses. Hall and Matisz are actually sticking together and travelled up the coast to the new Philadelphia Wings. Losing the two of them is big for two reasons. One, it takes away two productive forwards from each side of the floor. Neither led their side in scoring, but they were consistent and smart players.
The other negative is they both had become captains in their new home. They are both definitely major losses for both on-and-off the floor reasons. The other major loss in terms of just pure point production was Jesse King to Calgary. King was rebounding from an injury last year and came back in force. He worked his way back into the lineup right away and proved how important he is to making this offense live up to its potential.
Defensively, O’Connor and White are the biggest names missing from the day one roster, but they are losses that the Swarm should be able to absorb. In White’s case, it’s because that’s exactly what they did a year ago. Going into the 2018 season,White informed the team that he would not be able to start the season with them due to work commitments. Eventually, he joined for the second half of the season and playoffs, which was a great midseason boost to have. For O’Connor, he’s starting the season up in Buffalo, but is another piece that the Swarm should be able to absorb based on their rookies and returners.
Who comes back
When your primary offensive losses are among your forwards, there can be cause for concern. But when the remaining group up front is lead by Lyle Thompson, Randy Staats, Shayne Jackson and Miles Thompson, chances are that you’ll be fine. They also pulled Haina Thompson back into the mix, which is always an interesting move. He has never found a spot in the league where he’s a consistent starter, but has been hanging out in the fringes for years. He is the type of player you hope to see make some contributions in an expanded league. The Swarm do believe in him, so hopefully he can balance out the loss of Hall for the lefties.
Defensively and in transition, all eyes are on Jordan MacIntosh to lead the group once again. He runs along the likes of Connor Sellars, Bryan Cole, Zed Williams, John Ranagan, Alex Crepinsek, Chad Tutton, Jason Noble and Leo Stouros. Stouros and Williams are the young-ins of the group, with Stouros appearing in every game last year. Williams had early looks, and is a player still loaded with potential as he’s in the lineup more through 2019. But returning that many players of a defense that had the second fewest goals against in the division last year along with Mike Poulin in goal is only a sign of good things to come.
The rookies (and free agents)
Filling in the gaps for the Swarm is primarily a group of rookies and free agents. They need will need to support the lefties the most, especially to fill in for King’s departure. Holden Cattoni, Brendan Bomberry, Joel Tinney, Adam Wiedemann and not true rookie, but free agent first-year player Matt Dunn. Bomberry and Wiedmann were both first-round picks, with Bomberry likely filling in for Matisz’s spot and Wiedmann for O’Connor. In the second round, the Swarm brought in the lefty Tinney who is a much different player than anyone they’ve had over there. Combining him with Cattoni, who was the collateral for the King trade, should help balance out the offense. It will also be interesting to see how Dunn works his way into that defense. He’s a Team USA indoor defender that has seen plenty of success outdoors (reigning MLL Defensive Player of the Year), but has not played in the NLL yet.
The Schedule
The Swarm actually have a pretty difficult schedule to manage. The dates and traveling isn’t too crazy, but they only get two games with expansion Philly. They also host San Diego and Vancouver, which saves a pair of cross country flights. Their heavy lifting will be against their three games with New England, three with Toronto, three with Rochester, but only have two with division favorites Buffalo.
To see the Swarm’s full season schedule, click here.
