Toronto Rock take five defenders at the 2017 NLL Draft

After taking five defenders in last year’s draft, the Toronto Rock continued to bolster their back end with another defence-heavy draft class.

Toronto Rock Owner, President and General Manager Jamie Dawick said that he and the upper management of the team decided to take some gambles on low risk, high reward talents at the 2017 NLL Draft.

“Our draft this year is so different from last year in our approach. Last year we needed to find guys that could play for us right away. This year it was more about finding high potential guys,” Dawick said after the draft.

Just a year ago, the Rock were coming off a 5-13 season and the retirements of franchise cornerstones in Colin Doyle and Josh Sanderson.

They held two of the first 12 picks in last years draft and wasted no time in selecting Challen Rogers and Latrell Harris, two staples on the defensive end last season.

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This year, however, the Rock were in a completely different situation. They had to wait until the back end of the second round to make their first selection.

Dawick did pull the trigger on a trade beforehand though, acquiring the 15^th overall pick in the draft from Georgia in exchange for a 2020 second rounder.

With that pick, they selected defender Drew Belgrave from the Jr. A New Westminster Salmonbellies.

With the 18^th pick in the draft, the Rock took another defender, Zac Masson from the Orangeville Northmen. Masson is at the University of Alaska-Anchorage currently but has played for the Oakville Rock in the past.

“A guy we had really high on the board (Belgrave) was still falling, falling, falling. Don’t like moving future picks, but a second round pick four years from now for a guy that we think can potentially step into our lineup right away is something we’re excited about,” Dawick said.

“Masson is playing hockey in Alaska right now. If he’s fully committed to playing I think he’s a top three or four player in this draft.”

The Rock had a major gap for the future in the third round. They drafted goaltender Riley Hutchcraft from Mimico 30^th overall. The team lost third string goaltender Steve Fryer in free agency, leaving a spot for Hutchcraft to slide in. He has one more season of junior eligibility and will be able to learn from veteran goaltenders in Brandon Miller and Nick Rose.

“Those two (Rose & Miller) are two terrific goaltenders. I’m gonna have to challenge for a spot against them, it’ll be tough but it’s also going to be a learning experience with those two,” Hutchraft said after being drafted. “I’ll learn some things from them stepping into the bigger nets that’ll help me in the long run.”

The Rock went with more defence in the fourth round, selecting Alec Tulett of Brown University and Josh Jubenville from the Six Nations Arrows.

Tulett is a Toronto native, and played three seasons for the Toronto Beaches in junior A. He has made the biggest impact in the field game, first with Brown, and now with the Florida Launch of the MLL.

Jubenville graduated from the Windsor Clippers Jr. B program and brought a perfect fit for the Arrows during their Minto Cup run this summer. He wasn’t the top defender of the group, but he played a pivotal role on the team. He’s attending Davenport University this year, so it’s unlikely he’ll be a part of the Rock this season.

But a piece that Dawick and the Rock are hopeful for is Christian Burgdorf, who they took with the 49^th overall pick. The New Jersey native was a four-time All-American with the University of Denver and won a National Championship in 2015.

Although he’s never played box lacrosse, Dawick thinks his raw talent is well worth the pick.

“We’re gambling there with Burgdorf but I’ve watched him play enough in the field game to know that he’s got a huge ceiling,” he said “He’s from the New Jersey area. We have a few guys that fly in from there, so we’ll see.”

The Rock wrapped up their draft with another Canadian NCAA talent in Daniel Craig. He will have a chance to make an impact at training camp. The forward hasn’t played box lacrosse in two full years but played well during his time with the Barrie Lakeshores. He is a player to keep an eye on as someone who could play a role with the Rock in the future.

“We’ll be patient with some of these guys and I think in the position we are right now we can be a little bit,” Dawick said.

Next: Buffalo Bandits: Draft aims to return to glory years

The Rock is set to start camp in the first week of November. They open the 2017-18 season a month later.