THE RICH GET RICHER
Buffalo Bandits
The back-to-back defending champs had three picks in the first round and used them all, adding depth options for now and down the road. As GM Steve Dietrich said during the pre-draft broadcast, you can’t keep a championship lineup together forever, so the Bandits needed to be preparing a succession plan for all positions.
Buffalo opened their draft by grabbing righty forward Lukas Nielsen (#7), who still has a year of junior lacrosse to play. The 50-goal scorer with the New Westminster Salmonbellies will likely be groomed as an eventual replacement for one of the current veterans.
Last season, the Bandits became painfully familiar with the need for defensive depth. So in this draft, they went heavy on making sure they have defenders ready to roll out as necessary by following up the pick of Nielsen with seven straight defense/transition guys. The gem among them is Luca Antongiovanni, who didn’t officially enter the draft until a few days before but who had long been considered to be among the top tier of defenders expected to be available.
With their third first-rounder, Buffalo grabbed a dark horse in Taylor Dooley. He played primarily Sr. B with the Ennismore James Gang the last two seasons, but was a key member of the Toronto Beaches lineup that made it to the team’s first-ever Minto Cup back in 2022.
LOCAL TALENT
Rochester Knighthawks
The Knighthawks only had three picks after having dealt their others away. They used all three on defenders, all with ties to upstate New York.
Conner Fingar (#27) and Regan Endres (#51) are Albany grads who grew up near Rochester. Caleb Commandant is from Ontario, but the #80 pick went to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
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