(Photo Courtesy of PLL)
Following their inaugural season during the summer of 2019, the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is expanding from six teams to seven teams. And with expansion comes losses from each existing team via the PLL Expansion Draft, which will be taking place on February 12th.
How It Works
Before getting into projections, let’s look at what rules the PLL has laid out for this expansion draft. First off, each team will be able to protect 11 players ( 1 goalie and 10 positional players). However, players who are currently active duty military or on the rookie holdout list (did not make one appearance on a Travel Roster during 2019 season.) will be exempted from the expansion draft and will not need to be protected by their current club.
Waterdogs LC will be able to draft 18 players in all during the expansion draft and. No more than four players can be selected from a single existing Lacrosse Club in the Expansion Draft. Once four players have been selected from a club that club then becomes off-limits to select from.
Other Considerations
Unlike the expansion drafts that we have seen in the NLL over the past few seasons, player contracts in the PLL are not known to the public. Therefore, we can’t project that a player won’t be picked because of circumstances or any other matter besides on the field play. So that is what these projections will be looking at, exclusively. Also, the info as to who is and isn’t in the player pool is kind of murky, so these projections will include everyone who is listed on each respective team’s roster on the PLL’s website.
However, there is a chance that handshake deals between clubs will be made prior to the expansion draft. While it might ruin the drama just a bit, it can be a useful strategy for teams with deeper rosters.
Team-by-Team Breakdown
Archers LC
Archers may be the most interesting team when it comes to this expansion draft because they do have the first overall pick in the 2020 PLL Draft. With that pick, they can go in a number of different directions. But faceoff or attack seem to be the two places where many think they will go because of the top-level talent this draft holds at those two positions.
Head coach Chris Bates will be able to keep the top guys on the offensive side, but the real question for them is on the defensive end and in the middle of the field. Archers played somewhat of a two goalie system last season with Drew Adams and Adam Ghitleman sharing time. Statistically speaking, Ghitleman was better and saw more action. So they will likely protect him and Drew Adams will likely get left unprotected and it would be shocking if he didn’t get selected.
Also, Jackson Place’s injury poses some questions. If he is able to come back for a full season in 2020 then they will want to protect him. But if thats not the case, does Archers even need to protect him? In that case, Archers can likely afford to leave him unprotected and that opens up room to protect defensive midfielder Dominique Alexander and risk only protecting two poles.
Back to the first overall draft pick, things will be predicated on Pat Spencer. If Spencer comes then Yale faceoff man TD Ierlan will likely go first overall. If he doesn’t then Penn State attackman Grant Ament or Princeton attackman Michael Sowers will likely be the first overall pick. Since nobody will know of Spencer’s decision in January, it doesn’t make any logical sense for them to not protect faceoff man Stephen Kelly.
Protected List
Will Manny – Attack
Marcus Holman – Attack
Christian Cuccinello – Attack
Tom Schreiber – Midfield
Ben McIntosh – Midfield
Danny Eipp – Midfield
Dominique Alexander – D/Midfield
Stephen Kelly -Faceoff
Scott Ratliff – Defense
Matt McMahon – Defense
Adam Ghitelman – Goalie
Unprotected List
Davey Emala – Attack
Joey Sankey – Attack
Kevin Rice – Attack
Ryan Ambler – Attack
Austin Sims – Midfield
Tyler Pfister – Midfield
Mark McNeill – Midfield
Nick Tintle – Midfield
Ian MacKay – Midfield
Michael Noone – Defense
Steve Waldeck – Defense
Evan Connell – Defense
Goran Murray – Defense
Curtis Corley – Defense
Mike Simon – Defense
Jackson Place – Defense
Brendan Fowler – Faceoff
Drew Adams – Goalie
Atlas LC
The first overall pick bracket runner ups might not have the difficult roster as it pertains to the amount of tough decision that will have to be made prior to the expansion draft. But newly minted head coach Ben Rubeor does have some decisions to make.
Atlas’ defense is pretty set in stone and there is no way that Trevor Baptiste goes unprotected. So, they will likely not protect an SSDM or LSM. But for Atlas, all the questions surrounding the expansion draft protected list will be on the offensive end of the field.
Chris Cloutier only saw action in seven regular-season games but was very effective. There could be a chance that they end up protecting him over Joel Tinney, who can be more of a two-way player. And with the attack that Atlas has, Cloutier is at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of players that produce on a consistent basis from that position.
Needless to say, Atlas might be one of the easier teams to predict their protected list because of how “bland” their roster is. Besides Baptiste, they don’t have many guys at specialist positions that can be more valuable than your average positional player.
Protected List
Eric Law – Attack
Kieran McArdle – Attack
Ryan Brown – Attack
Paul Rabil – Midfield
Connor Buczek – Midfield
Joel Tinney – Midfield
Trevor Baptiste – Faceoff
Kyle Hartzell – Defense
Tucker Durkin – Defense
Cade Van Raaphorst – Defense
Jack Concannon – Goalie
Unprotected List
Chris Cloutier – Attack
James Pannell – Attack
Shack Stanwick – Attack
John Crawley – Midfield
Kevin Unterstein – Midfield
Jake Richard – Midfield
Steve DeNapoli – Midfield
Andrew Hodgson – Midfield
Ryan Conrad – Midfield
Tal Bruno – Midfield
Steven Brooks – Midfield
Pat Young – Midfield
Chris Mattes – faceoff
Noah Richard – Defense
Callum Robinson – Defense
Austin Pifani – Defense
Scotty Rogers – Goalie
Chaos LC
Head coach Andy Towers might have more questions in front of him than any other head coach in the PLL as the due date for expansion draft protection list grow nearer, but he also has a bit of an advantage, as well. Chaos LC can protect more players than any other team due to the military exemption rule which applies to defenseman Johnny Surdick and midfielder Greyson Torain – who are both active duty military members.
Even though their six-on-six offense failed at times last season, I honestly can’t see any of their offensive starters go unprotected. So on that front, things are pretty simple. But it gets more complicated in the middle of the field. Mark Glicini or Thomas Kelly?
Glicini galvanized fans last season with his heart, hustle, and determination, which was put on display when he blocked shots with his back. Which is just insane. There is an argument to be made that protecting Glicini is more important than protecting faceoff man Thomas Kelly. If Chaos had the first overall pick, go ahead and protect Glicini and get Yale faceoff man TD Ierlan with that first overall selection. But they don’t have that luxury.
Also, Coach Towers could choose to not protect either Kelly or Glicini and protect defenseman/LSM Brodie Merrill. The veteran was a crucial piece to their defense last season and would also be a big loss, as it’s hard to imagine Waterdogs LC not picking Merrill. In reality, Towers and Chaos might just stick to the status quo and protect Kelly at the faceoff dot. After all, they can’t lose more than four players maximum, so there is a chance that one of the guys that they wish they could have protected doesn’t get selected at all.
Protected List
Connor Fields – Attack
Josh Byrne – Attack
Miles Thompson – Attack
Jake Froccaro – Midfield
Myles Jones – Midfield
Deemer Class – Midfield
Thomas Kelly – Faceoff
Jarrod Neumann – Defense
Troy Reh – Defense
Jack Rowlett – Defense
Blaze Riorden – Goalie
Unprotected List
Curtis Dickson – Attack
Joe Resetarits – Attack
Eric Scott – Midfield
Kevin Buchanan – Midfield
Dhane Smith – Midfield
Patrick Resch – Midfield
Brad Smith – Midfield
Jeremy Thompson – Midfield
Mark Glicini – D-Midfield
Brodie Merrill – LSM/Defense
Tyson Bell – Defense
Dan Coates – Defense
Chrome LC
Newly minted Chrome LC head coach Tim Soudan knows many of the players on his roster already, having coached them previously. While that certainly should help his decision making in this process, it is also helpful that Chrome only really has questions on the defensive side of the ball. And on top of that, the most pressing question has a pretty simple answer.
Starting with the goalie spot, John Galloway and Brett Queener both showed flashes of greatness last season, but it just makes more sense for Chrome to protect Galloway. It would honestly be surprising if they decided to go the other way.
Chrome’s biggest area they need to clean up next season is their transition defense. Protecting a guy like Max Tuttle or John Ranagan who can be a big contributor on both ends of the field is practically a must Chrome, and would really help their play in between the boxes (arcs).
Protecting two close defensemen also allows Chrome LC to go out and get a quality defender like Duke’s JT Giles-Harris in the draft and keeps key contributors that they need at the midfield position.
Protected List
Justin Guterding – Attack
Jordan Wolf – Attack
Ned Crotty – Midfield
Jordan MacIntosh – Midfield
John Ranagan – Midfield
Matt Danowski – Midfield
Romar Dennis – Midfield
Connor Farrell – Faceoff
Mike Manley – Defense
Joel White – Defense
John Galloway – Goalie
Unprotected List
Chris Bocklet – Attack
Callum Crawford – Attack
Ty Thompson – Attack
Simon Mathias – Attack
John Pendergast – Midfield
Max Tuttle – Midfield
Will Haus – Midfield
Alec Tullett – Defense
Joe Fletcher – Defense
Chris Sabia – Defense
Ryan Flanagan – Defense
Luke Duprey – Defense
Brandon Mullins – Defense
BJ Grill – Defense
Brett Queener – Goalie
Redwoods LC
Head coach Nat St. Laurent and Redwoods LC are in a very unique position heading into the expansion draft. That unique position is having six defensemen that could probably be inserted to any roster in the league and be a star. Having that much talent on the back end is both a blessing an a curse in this instance.
Also, they have some tough decisions at midfield, as well. They can go younger and protect Ryder Garnsey, Sergio Perkovic, and Sergio Salcido or they could decide to protect Joe Walters and either Pat Harbeson or Brent Adams who can both run both ends. Redwoods also could chose to not protect faceoff man Greg Gurelian so they can protect one more guy on defense or midfield. I honestly can’t see that happening, even with Gurelian’s recent injury problems.
Redwoods will likely just protect two attackmen (Jules Heningburg, Matt Kavanagh) so they can still stack up talent on either defense or at the midfield position. At the end of the day it is probably best for Redwoods to just keep things simple and let everything else play out on its own.
Protected List
Jules Heningburg – Attack
Matt Kavanagh – Attack
Ryder Garnsey – Midfield
Sergio Perkovic – Midfield
Sergio Salcido – Midfield
Patrick Harbeson – Midfield
Greg Gurelian – Faceoff
Garrett Epple – Defense
John Sexton – Defense
Eddy Glazener – Defense
Tim Troutner – Goalie
Unprotected List
Clarke Petterson – Attack
Wes Berg – Attack
Kylor Bellistri – Attack
Kyle Harrison – Midfield
Joe Walters – Midfield
Brent Adams – Midfield
Jack Near – Midfield
Tyler Dunn – Midfield
Nick Ossello – Midfield
JoJo Marasco – Midfield
Jerry Ragonese – Faceoff
Brian Karalunas – Defense
Matt Landis – Defense
Larken Kemp – Defense
Gunnar Waldt – Goalie
Whipsnakes LC
After winning the inaugural PLL championship, Whipsnakes LC head coach Jim Stagnitta likely has the toughest decisions to make of any team in the league, leading up to the expansion draft. One of only a few sure-fire things for Whipsnakes is that they will keep their entire defense intact.
While their entire defense and faceoff man Joe Nardella should be protected, that leaves some questions on the offensive end of the field. Rambo and Chanenchuk are locks, but those last two spots on offense will be a hot button topic across the league.
Ryan Drenner, Drew Snider, Connor Kelly, Ben Reeves, and John Haus could all see their name as one of those last two spots. Drenner and Kelly make the sense to protect out of that group. Drenner was a top-three scorer for them last season and Kelly is one of the most dynamic offensive talents in the league, having the ability to play attack or midfield. While letting Reeves and Haus go will be very tough, this 2020 draft class is deep enough in offensive talent that they can find someone to come in and fill one of those holes.
Protected List
Matt Rambo – Attack
Ryan Drenner – Attack
Connor Kelly – A/M
Mike Chanenchuk – Midfield
Tyler Warner – D-Midfield
Joe Nardella – Faceoff
Bryce Young – Defense
Tim Mueller – Defense
Matt Dunn – Defense
Michael Ehrhardt – Defense
Kyle Bernlohr – Goalie
Unprotected List
Ben Reeves – Attack
Jay Carlson – Attack
Dylan Maltz – Attack
Drew Snider – Midfield
Jake Bernhardt – Midfield
John Haus – Midfield
Joe Locascio – Midfield
Jeremy Sieverts – Midfield
Tim Rotanz – Midfield
Joe McCallion – Midfield
Jeff Reynolds – Midfield
Isaac Paparo – LSM/Defense
Brett Schmidt – Defense
James Barclay – Defense
Dan Morris – Goalie