Mike Grimes Thinks the Swarm are East Enough

October 16, 2014

The Minnesota Swarm signed enough players to field one shift on the floor today as seven players including new defensive star Mike Grimes inked contracts for the 2015 season. In addition to Grimes, the Swarm signed goaltender Brodie MacDonald for two years, re-signed Corbyn Tao, brought back Dominique Alexander after a year on the practice roster, signed one free agent with NLL experience and two rookie free agents trying the pro indoor game for the first time.

Grimes is the headliner today because the Swarm traded Tyler Hass and Dane Stevens to Vancouver to get him in order to replace Jeff Gilbert who left via unrestricted free agency to Toronto. Grimes now works in Ontario and with the nearly two months since the trade, I wondered if the Swarm were EAST enough to accomodate Grimes' work schedule. It looks like it will be and that is me breathing a sigh of relief as he signed for one year.

Grimes will be entering his ninth NLL season after stints in Arizona, Edmonton, Washington and Vancouver compiling 41 goals, 67 assists and 624 loose balls in 115 games. The 2010 NLL Champions Cup winner with the Stealth, Grimes is the only player on the Swarm who has won a Champions Cup and with the experience, the Swarm are looking for Grimes to be a leader on and off the floor.

MacDonald signed for two years today as he gets ready to battle Zach Higgins for the top goaltender spot on the Swarm. Acquired from Edmonton for former Swarm goaltender Tyler Carlson at the beginning of July, MacDonald is viewed as a top young NLL goaltender but in his three years in Edmonton he only played 208 minutes. The Swarm are expected to give him his first real chance to show his stuff at the top level if Higgins doesn't keep him on the bench.

Tao is looking to play a lot more than he did in 2014 as he only got in one game. Not sure why exactly he did not get more playing time considering the Swarm were last in the NLL in goals scored but that's what happened. The Swarm have brought in some competition on the right side via the draft and free agency, so Tao will have his job cut out for him. He signed for one year and the fan favorite, who is the only player living in Minnesota year round, may only have one more chance to stick around. We saw what he could do in 2012 and 2013 and he will need those performances again to stay with the team.

Alexander returns to the Swarm after signing for one year. He spent nearly the entire 2014 season on the practice roster after being drafted in 2013. He was activated for the March 23rd game against Buffalo but was not dressed and put back on the practice roster after the game. He had a very good year in 2014 this past summer in the MLL with the Ohio Machine and with that added confidence, look for Alexander to make a strong move towards making the active roster.

The Swarm also signed three free agents today to one-year contracts:

Nick Cotter actually has NLL experience which is rare for a player new to the Swarm lately but is much appreciated. The lefty forward was drafted by the Boston Blazers with the 14th overall pick in the 2008 NLL Entry Draft. That year, the Swarm drafted Andrew Watt with the 8th pick, Kevin Buchanan with the 11th pick and Joe Cinosky with the 13th pick. Watt was a sure fire pick but Buchanan only played 12 games for the Swarm and Cinosky took to his third year before seeing consistent playing time. Maybe Cotter would have looked good in blue and gold back then. Nevertheless, he is here now and hopefully will be available to play. He played for the Blazers from 2009 - 2011 after which the Blazers suspended play. Philadelphia took him in the dispersal draft but cut him prior to 2012. Buffalo picked him up in 2013 where he played six games. He did not play last year as he became an assistant head coach for St. Leo, a Division II team in Florida and which he currently still serves at. When he has played in his career, he has shown very good ability to play both ends and has a knack for scoring goals as he scored 47 goals in 47 games. One problem for the Swarm is that he seemed to do his best against the Swarm with eight goals in four games including a game winner for Boston in 2009. The Swarm have brought in a lot of competition on the left side but Cotter may have some flexibility in his game to stick around.

The Swarm final two signings are Americans with no NLL experience and will be attending their first NLL training camps but that doesn't mean they don't have talent and both have some familiarity with players currently on the team.

The first player is Marcus Holman, a righty forward out of North Carolina. He had a spectacular four years with the Tar Heels as he left as the school's all-time leading scorer and a three-time All-American making the first team in his senior year in 2013. He joined the Ohio Machine of the MLL out of school and has excelled to become one of the best outdoors. In his two years with the Machine (23 games), Holman has 44 goals (5 two-pointers) and 21 assists while teammates with Logan Schuss, Alexander, Greg Downing, Kiel Matisz and Sam Bradman. His 37 goals in 2014 led the entire MLL. He also made Team USA for the 2014 World Field Lacrosse Championships where he won a silver medal along with Mitch Belisle with 10 goals and nine assists in 7 games. He sure is very talented outdoors with a knack to put the ball in the net but can he translate it fast enough indoors to make the Swarm this year? We shall see how he develops. I got a feeling that is all.

The second player is lefty defender Andrew Casimir who had a successful career at Dowling where he finished as a Division II All-American. Since he graduated in 2011, he moved out to California where he has played on the LXM Tour along with Bradman. I presume he will play again this fall in the LXM. When not playing, he has been a high school coach and now assists Kyle Harrison at JSerra Catholic High School in lovely San Juan Capistrano, CA.