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"The" Swarm Protected ListJune 28, 2006The Swarm have finalized their protection list for the expansion draft on July 12th, 2006. The Chicago Shamrox and the New York To Be Named Laters will not be able to pick the following 10 Swarm runners (6 forwards & 4 defensemen) and two Swarm goalies: Goalies
Forwards (Left-Handed)
Forwards (Right-Handed}
Defensemen
Players Unprotected Goalies
Forwards (Left-Handed)
Defensemen
Observations: The Swarm were the only team in the league to protect 10 runners and 2 goalies. With Matt Disher and Nick Patterson protected, Marty O'Neill may use one in a future trade. For example, Calgary didn't protect Curtis Palidwor at goal. He is an unrestricted free agent and if selected Palidwor would have to be made the franchise player. If Calgary loses him, I can't see them going with Ryan Avery or Andrew Leyshon. So the Swarm offer either Disher or Patterson to the Roughnecks for another very strong lefthanded forward, Lewis Ratcliff. Just speculating. With Scott Stewart being protected, O'Neill must be confident that Stewart's knee will be 100% for the start of the season. Even though Stewart only got to play 1 1/2 quarters against the Wings on February 10th, he looked very impressive and if that is the performance we can rely on from Stewart, then protecting him makes sense. Noah Talbot has looked very good with Victoria this summer and with the Swarm this winter. He maybe the Swarm defenseman who best plays at an even keel. Marty got it right - Brock Boyle is protected!!!!!! The first player I believe that will be selected from the Swarm is Jamie Taylor. Both expansion teams would greatly benefit by selecting Taylor who collects assists and is a very talented left handed forward. If Taylor is selected, either Riley Kemp or Michael Kilby should be protected. Chicago probably can attract players from both sides of Canada, while New York may bring in more from Ontario and Americans from the east coast. I would say Dean Hill, Eric Pacey or Jon Sullivan could be along with Taylor being the two Swarm selected. Like all expansion drafts in the NLL, a lot of wheeling and dealing will be done, most of which is prearranged. By the time the expansion draft is done, the order of the entry draft probably will be jumbled greatly. Last year eight of the twelve protected this year were protected:
Riley Kemp is still with the team and the three others (Darryl Gibson, Kerry Susheski and Ryder Bateman) were eventually traded. Brock Boyle and Scott Campbell were picked. We got Brock back a week later from Portland in a trade during the Anaheim Storm dispersal draft and Campbell was selected by Edmonton and traded the same day to Toronto. Overall, the protection list is very solid. I hope Kelly Hall and Nick Patterson pick it up a bit this summer. Andrew Biers is a solid two-way player who can do face offs and Ryan Ward won't have to move out of the Twin Cities. Can't wait to see what will happen on July 12th. |