Rock Announce Protected List For NLL Expansion Draft

ROCK ANNOUNCE PROTECTED LIST FOR NLL EXPANSION DRAFT

4 Forwards, 7 Defenders, 1 Goaltender Protected

Oakville, ON – Toronto Rock Owner, President and GM Jamie Dawick announced today that the lacrosse club has elected to protect four forwards, seven defenders and one goaltender for the upcoming NLL Expansion Draft.  On June 29, the league’s 14^th team, Panther City Lacrosse Club will select one player from each of the NLL’s 13 existing teams.

Teams also had the option to protect five forwards, five defenders and a goalie, but Dawick opted to protect a greater amount of the team’s immense defensive depth.

“It’s a very difficult process, everyone’s on your team because you want them here,” said Dawick.  “When someone takes a player away, to put it bluntly, it sucks.  However, this is something that goes along with expansion and we’ve been through this before.  We have lost some really good players through expansion, but we’ll roll with the punches once again.”

The following twelve players have been protected by the Rock:

Forwards (4): Dan Craig, Rob Hellyer, Zach Manns, Tom Schreiber

Defence (7): Mitch de Snoo, Latrell Harris, Adam Jay, Josh Jubenville, Brad Kri, Jason Noble, Challen Rogers

Goalie (1): Nick Rose

Following Panther City LC’s selection of one player from the Rock’s unprotected list, the remaining players that were left unprotected for the purposes of the NLL Expansion Draft, will remain property of the Toronto Rock.

Notable offensive players that were left unprotected include the likes of veteran scorers Dan Dawson and Adam Jones.  Dawick explains that there’s some strategy to that.

“A lot of things go into the list,” said Dawick.  “With Dan being an unrestricted free agent, he’s reached the age and level of service that he can turn down a franchise tag and still become a UFA, giving him the choice to play where he wants, which he’s earned.  With Adam, it’s a bit more of an age factor where we decided to protect some of our younger assets.”

The newest NLL team, Panther City LC, will begin play at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas in December when the NLL makes its return to regular season play after being inactive since March of 2020 when the league shutdown due to COVID-19.

Recently, the NLL also confirmed that the league’s 15^th franchise will be based in Las Vegas, Nevada and will begin play in 2022-23.

Stay tuned to the Rock’s social media channels and torontorock.com for more news, including player signings, in the coming months.

Following the conclusion of the Expansion Draft process, the next major date on the NLL’s summer calendar is the opening of the free agent signing period on Aug. 1.

2021-22 Toronto Rock Season Memberships are on sale now!  For more information on tickets for games at the Rock’s new home at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton or to purchase, please visit torontorock.com.