Toronto Makes Five Picks In Total At NLL Draft
Oakville, ON – The Toronto Rock welcomed five new players to the organization on Monday night at the NLL Draft, including 2nd overall selection Challen Rogers from Coquitlam, BC. The 22-year old transition player is expected to step into the Rock’s lineup to begin the 2017 NLL season in January.
“I am expecting big things out of him right away,” explained Dawick. “He is a big, strong, athletic kid. I think the NLL game is even better suited for him than the summer game. Of course there will be a little adjustment with the speed of the game, but he’ll be able to step in and contribute right away.”
Rogers played his junior lacrosse for his hometown Coquitlam Jr. A Adanacs and piled up the awards. He was named the BCJALL rookie of the year in 2012 and upon his exit from the BCJALL was named the league’s top graduating player and was also pegged as a first-team all-star.
His star continued to rise during his four-year collegiate career at Stony Brook University. Playing midfield, the 6’4” righty who tips the scales at 220 lbs was difficult to stop and piled up the points including 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points in his senior year in 2015. He was a first team All-America East selection in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
In the summer of 2016, Rogers played for the Oakville Rock of Ontario’s Major Series Lacrosse where Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer is also the coach of the Oakville squad. The Rock are very familiar with what they have in Rogers.
The Toronto Rock went young with their second pick of the draft, taking 18-year Latrell Harris in the second round, 12th overall. Harris is another athletic defender who played for the St. Catharines Athletics in the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League this past summer. He scored 8 goals and added 14 assists for 22 points in his first full season of Junior A lacrosse, appearing in 18 games for the A’s. He’s young and raw but the Rock scouting staff believes strongly that he will develop into a top end defender as he matures.
In the third round, the Rock selected Jordan Magnuson from the Coquitlam Adanacs of the BC Junior A Lacrosse League, 23rd overall. In 2016, he scored 7 goals and 31 assists for 38 points. Along the lines of Rogers and Harris, he’s player with size and speed that can get up and down the floor and contribute in transition and can also take faceoffs.
The Rock selected forward Jackson Hulbert in the fifth round with the 42nd overall pick. The Oakville, Ontario native played the bulk of his Junior A lacrosse for the Toronto Beaches before being dealt to the Burlington Chiefs at the trade deadline this summer. He chipped in offensively with 16 goals and 19 assists in 15 total games between the Chiefs and the Beaches in 2016.
In the sixth and final round, the Rock selected defender Jamie McMahon with the 50th overall pick. McMahon is a product of the Orangeville Jr. A Northmen and was coached this summer by Rock scout DJ Clevely and previously by Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. McMahon was a part of the 2012 Northmen team that won the Minto Cup under Sawyer’s tutelage. The intelligent defender also has another NLL connection in the form of his father Bob McMahon who is presently an assistant coach with the Calgary Roughnecks.
The Rock clearly had a consistent theme to their first three draft picks selecting big, athletic defenders.
“We want to build from the back end out and we have our goalie in Nick Rose,” said Dawick. “We have some older defenders, so that was an important area of focus. If offensive guys were there when we drafted, we could have gone that way, but the guy at the top of our board in each of the first three rounds when we picked was a defensive player and we’re very happy with who we selected this evening.”
Fans are welcome to attend tomorrow night’s NLL Hall of Fame and Awards ceremony beginning at 7 p.m. at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre and there is no charge for admission. Those who cannot attend can watch the proceedings online at NLL.com.
2017 Toronto Rock season tickets are now on sale and start at just $195. For more information, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive at 416-596-3075 or visit torontorock.com.
