Dan Taylor Sent To Calgary As Part Of 3-Way Deal
Oakville, ON – Toronto Rock Owner, President and GM Jamie Dawick has announced an impactful trade today as the Rock have acquired forward Johnny Powless from the Calgary Roughnecks in exchange for forward Dan Taylor as part of a three-team trade.
As part of this transaction, Powless was first dealt from New England to Calgary in exchange for a pair of draft picks. He was then acquired by the Rock.
In the trade, the Rock gave up left-handed shooting forward Taylor who was acquired from Saskatchewan at last season’s trade deadline. In three games with the Toronto, Taylor scored one goal and added two assists.
“I have always liked Johnny’s game,” said Dawick. “We have competed against him a lot and we have seen his vision, his high lacrosse IQ and just how smart of a player he is. We are excited to get him into a Rock uniform and we plan on having him here for a long time to come.”
From Six Nations, ON, the 25-year old Powless entered the league as an 18-year old phenom with the Rochester Knighthawks using the fifth overall selection in the 2011 NLL Draft to select the budding star. He stepped into the league immediately and helped the Knighthawks win the NLL Championship in each of his first three NLL seasons with Rochester from 2012 to 2014.
After being dealt to Vancouver, he was traded a second time that season to the Swarm in 2015 where he would later capture a fourth NLL Cup in 2017, playing an integral role in Georgia’s record-setting offence. After beginning last season with the Swarm, he was eventually dealt to the Black Wolves.
“Johnny has been a winner everywhere he’s played,” Dawick added. “We believe he can be a piece of a puzzle and help us have some of that same kind of success.”
While the NLL accolades are part of the success story of the young man nicknamed, ‘Pup’. The calendar year of 2014 and what Powless achieved on top his pro lacrosse success, might register as one of the best 365 days anyone has ever enjoyed in the sport.
After wrapping up a third NLL Cup with the Knighthawks in May of 2014, he went on to capture the Minto Cup Canadian Jr. A Championship in August with the Six Nations Arrows where was named the tournament’s MVP. After a short breather, he then joined the Sr. A Six Nations Chiefs and helped them win the Mann Cup Canadian Sr. A Championship in September, pulling off an unbelievable trifecta.
His incredible year garnered national media attention outside of the lacrosse world, being named a finalist for the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s top athlete of 2014. The other finalists included tennis stars Milos Raonic and Genie Bouchard, NHL star Drew Doughty and the eventual winner of the award, Olympic gold-medalist Kaillie Humphries.
Already seven years into his NLL career, Powless has scored 349 points in 112 games with Rochester, Vancouver and Georgia. His 2016 season with Georgia was his best in the NLL with career highs in goals (35), assists (37) and points 72.
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