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October 2013 Updates


September 2013 | Current Month | Other Months | November 2013

  • 10/30/13 - The National Lacrosse League released the names of restricted and unresticted free agents today along with franchised players. Today, all teams can sign rostered restricted free agents, unrestricted free agents and free agents who did not finish last year on a NLL roster.

    The Swarm have two restricted free agents: Greg Downing and Joe Cinosky. It is expected that Downing will probably re-sign with the Swarm. Cinosky is not expected to re-sign with the Swarm and will continue to coach as an assistant with Duke University.

    With the announcements of free agents and the opening of free agency today, we can conclude that Mitch Belisle, Callum Crawford and Jeff Gilbert were offered contracts by the Swarm which are greater than their regular season compensation from last year. Just offering the three players at least that amount of compensation by yesterday prevented any of them from becoming restricted free agents. Now with offers offered, it is just a matter of when each of the three will sign.

  • 10/30/13 - According to Andrew Suitor's tweet today, the Minnesota Swarm will open camp at the end of November. The date will probably be either Thursday, the 28th or Friday, the 29th. It is expected that the Swarm will, for a fifth straight season, not hold any part of camp in Minnesota. It is expected that camp will be held for the second straight year at the Toronto Rock Athletic Center in Oakville, Ontario. They will probably practice in Oakville the following two weeks with a exhibition in Rochester against the Knighthawks on Saturday, December 7th.

  • 10/22/13 - Important dates announced by the National Lacrosse League as pertains to the 2014 season
    • Oct. 22: Clubs are permitted to re-negotiate and re-sign contracts of players on their roster.
      • The Swarm can sign players that were on last years end of year roster like Dan Ball, acquired through trade this offseason (irrelevant for the Swarm) and they can sign their draft picks like Scott Jones.
    • Oct. 29: Deadline for Qualified offers to Veteran players classified in section 7.1 of the C.B.A. Franchise Player designation due date.
      • The Swarm will not have any unrestricted free agents to franchise.
    • Oct. 30: Free Agency Signing – Clubs are now permitted to contact, speak and sign Rostered Restricted Free Agents (RFA’s) and Rostered Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA’s) as per the League listing of said players. Clubs can sign non-rostered free agents (street free agents) and the previous seasons' practice players.
      • The Swarm tend not to like acquiring players from other teams as they cost too much money, so don't look for anybody else's free agents being signed by the Swarm. The Swarm will probably sign young talent that was out of the league last year or players not drafted in this year draft to fill out the training camp roster. They may bring back players from last year's camp like Michael Teeter but nothing can be announced until October 30th.
    • Nov. 8 – Dec. 22: Training Camps Period – for teams opening regular season on Dec. 28, 2013 (maximum of nine sessions, maximum of 40 players, includes exhibition games/scrimmages).
      • The Swarm can start camp on November 8th if they wish but nothing has not yet been announced. They will more than likely train in Oakville, Ontario at the Toronto Rock Athletic Center with no appearances in Minnesota. One weekend they will be in Rochester for an exhibtion game against the Knighthawks on December 7th. My hunch is that the team will not train on two consecutive weekends as the training camp period is rather long. It keeps the team fresh every other week and hopefully will have them more prepared for the opener on December 28th.
    • Nov. 15 – Dec. 29: Training Camps Period – for teams opening regular season on Jan. 3-4, 2014 (maximum of nine sessions, maximum of 40 players, includes exhibition games/scrimmages).
    • Dec. 12: Roster cut down to 20 players.
      • Competition will be tough and the preseason game in Rochester on December 7th may make or break a player's chances to make the team. Assuming the team will keep all four first rounders on the active roster and if Andrew Suitor is ready for action on the 12th, the Swarm will need to let go at least three more players from last year's end of year roster.
    • Dec. 28: 2014 NLL Regular Season begins.
      • For the Swarm, they travel to Rochester to play the two-time Champion Knighthawks at 6:30 pm Central.
    • March 18: NLL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET).
      • The Swarm trade veterans for future draft picks only. Don't look for the Swarm to get Kyle Rubisch, Dan Dawson, etc. in some mega-deal to put the team over the top. That's what the other eight teams in the NLL do at the trade deadline.
    • March 20: Trade Deadline Roster Submission (3 p.m. ET).
      • The Swarm may move players off the practice roster or sign street free agents if injuries or bad performance are an issue. Many good players will be watching from the sidelines this year, so those players need to stay sharp because teams may need them for the stretch run.
    • April 26: 2014 NLL Regular Season ends.
      • The Swarm finish the regular season at The Hive against the Toronto Rock. After the game, the Swarm will prepare for a memorable playoff run to Champions Cup glory.


  • 10/22/13 - The National Lacrosse League (NLL) and the Professional Lacrosse Players Association (PLPA) agreed today to a new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that goes through the 2020 season.

    The deal was made with the understanding that costs for each of the teams had to be decreased or at least streamlined in order to keep the league functioning and give it a chance to grow in the future.

    Key points that favor players:

    • Unrestricted free agency. It used to be 32 years old , but the players got this concession which should give players more freedom of movement in a league that continues to get younger each year.
      • 32 and over for the 2014 season (players born in 1981 or earlier)
      • 31 and over for the 2015 season (players born in 1983 or earlier)
      • 30 and over for the 2016 season (players born in 1985 or earlier) and beyond
    • Teams can only franchise one player instead of two starting for the 2015 season. This year they can still franchise two.
    • Starting for the 2015 season, if an UFA is 35 or older, he can reject being franchised. In the 2016 season and beyond, an UFA who is 34 or older can reject franchisement.

    Key points that favor owners:

    • Players base salary maximum and mininum remain the same for the first two years of the agreement, basically no guaranteed adjusted increase until year three of the agreement
    • Active rosters will decrease from 23 to 20, which means less spots for players and at least $27,000 per year in cost savings for the owners.
    • Practice roster increases from 3 to 4 players. Owners can use this to develop players in CLAX and to keep an extra player at a much lower cost.

    Key points that are tough to ascertain at this time if it favors any side

    • The regular season expands from 16 to 18 games. It helps with revenue for the owners but they have to pay the players more per game. For players, more chances to play but possibly more chances to get hurt.
    • The playoff teams are reduced to six but the division finals and Champions Cup are now best of two with an overtime to decide a tie. Just like the extension of the regular season the same basic thoughts apply to this also, even though it is shown to be tougher for owners to market playoff games due to the short notice of playoff game announcements.
    • Luxury tax has been added in which teams will be taxed if they go over $400,000 in base salary, bonuses and and promotional events. This could help teams that are cash-strapped like the Swarm since they could collect a portion of the tax collected if they stay under $400,000. But teams that can spend for top talent like Colorado may have to make sure to have a little extra to give back to the league if they go over $400,000. For younger players, this is good as teams will likely favor a younger, less expensive player over a veteran with all other things being equal to possibly avoid the luxury tax. This is the Swarm way of doing business.


  • 10/21/13 - IL Indoor posted a list of free agents on their site today at the following: NLL free-agent tracker for 2014 season.

    For the Swarm, we have the following. Keep in mind two items:

    1. That active rosters may be limited to 21 from last year's 23
    2. The Swarm don't have that much money to pay players per their letter to the fans on October 8th

    Potential Restricted free agents:

    The following become Restricted Free Agents if the team owning the right to the veteran player’s services offers regular-season compensation in an amount less than such veteran player’s previous season’s seasonal compensation.

    • Mitch Belisle - The Swarm may let Belisle test the market and see if a team like Philadelphia would try to sign him. The Wings would probably be the only competition for his services. With the drafting of Reid Acton and Jordan Houtby, the Swarm may feel that Belisle is expendable.
    • Callum Crawford - Crawford will probably be offered at the same amount as last year and re-sign; especially, with Ryan Benesch having been traded this offseason. Money has been freed up to keep Crawford here for the time being.
    • Jeff Gilbert - Gilbert will probably be offered at least the same amount as last year and re-sign. However, if the CBA keeps UFA eligibility when a player turns 32, Gilbert will be an UFA in two years which means 2015 may be the last season for Gilbert in blue and gold. If that occurs, the Swarm won't franchise Gilbert as that would cost too much for the cash-strapped franchise and probably lose him for nothing to a team like Toronto.
    • Joe Cinosky - Cinosky is a volunteer assistant with Duke for a second straight year and it is quite unlikely will play for the Swarm ever again. He probably will not be offered a contract and be free to sign elsewhere if he wishes to play in the NLL.

    Restricted free agents:

    The following are 2014 Restricted Free Agents due to the fact they signed a 2013 contract under the league-wide average. These players also played a minimum of 3 seasons and have dressed or played in at least 23 regular-season games.

    • Greg Downing - Downing, who lives in Denver, may get interest from the Colorado Mammoth to join their team. If the Mammoth offer Downing a contract, I am not sure if the Swarm would match considering they were already underpaying him and my hunch is that the Mammoth would offer more. Also, the Swarm have depth with lefty defensemen in Gilbert, Alex Crepinsek, Dan Ball and Jason Noble.

    The Swarm do not have any players up for unrestricted free agency but former Minnesota Swarm, current Edmonton Rush player Ryan Ward, who still lives in Minnesota, is an UFA. Last year, the Rush franchised Ward and may do so again. Being franchised by the Rush would guarantee that Ward will stay in Edmonton. If Ward is not franchised, the Rush may still offer a better compensation to Ward then what he would get with the Swarm, even though travel would decrease greatly. Ward has done well in Edmonton and the Rush have rewarded him for it, something that probably won't happen in Minnesota.

    Until the CBA is finalized, there will be no player signings. However, when the CBA is finalized, watch out as things in the NLL and the Swarm may heat up in a hurry with about a month before training camp. If Crawford or Gilbert make it to restricted free agency, I really fear the Swarm won't be able to match anything a team like Toronto, Rochester or Buffalo could offer up. It is an easy fix, just offer both of them the same as last year and they stay in Minnesota for another year.

  • 10/17/13 - Mike O'Brien was taken off the roster page on the Minnesota Swarm's website. He finished last year on the practice roster so he automatically became a free agent. With him off the roster page, my hunch is that the Swarm will not sign him and bring him to camp. Ryan Masters also was on the practice roster at the end of last year and is still listed on the Swarm website's roster page. He will probably be brought to camp as the third goaltender and may very well be on the practice roster again in 2014.

  • 10/16/13 - Pat Smith was officially released today by the Swarm. That leaves 18 players on the active roster. With rosters reportedly being trimmed to 21 active players for the 2014 season, that leaves three open spots right now. If all four 2013 first round picks make the team for 2014 and Andrew Suitor makes his return from injury, that will mean at least two more players from last year's end of year roster will be gone.

    Five players from last year's end of year active roster have been traded or released so far this off season:



  • 10/08/13 - Pat Smith tweeted today that he thanks the fans for the two years with the Minnesota Swarm and is looking forward to his next opportunity. It is not confirmed if Smith was traded, released or put on an inactive list due to the knee injury he is recovering from.

  • 10/08/13 - John Arlotta and Andy Arlotta wrote a letter to the fans today which is posted on the the Swarm's website that states the team has approxiamately 2,500 season ticket holders and is trying to reach 4,000 for the 2014 season. The 4,000 number they state will "This is unlikely to eliminate our losses, but it will show significant support and progress that will give us optimism for the future.". This may also get the attention of any potential investors who want to buy the team or become minority owners.

    They are reaching out to the fans to encourage them to get the word out amongst friends, businesses, etc. that being a season ticket holder is the best bargain for the best entertainment in town. They remain committed to the success of the team but do state they have suffered huge finanical losses during their tenure and can't continue to do so for the next five years. They are trying to lose less each year but need to build up the season ticket holder base to do so.

    We already know that the team has been keeping player costs as low as possible by building through the draft with new players like Logan Schuss and trading away veterans like Ryan Benesch, when their potential salaries are getting too large for the Swarm to keep around. With the probability of rosters decreasing from 23 to 21 active players and the move to the East Division, it is possible that will help with the Swarm bottom line.

    We don't know the status of sponsorship money at this time but their three-year contract they agreed to on August 30, 2010 with Treasure Island Resort and Casino expired after last year and there is no word yet if it has been renewed. The Treasure Island sponsorship included naming rights for the field, sponsorship on the jerseys and to develop youth lacrosse on the Prairie Island Reservation.

    The Collective Bargaining Agreement is not yet signed and if causes the season to be delayed or cancelled, it may prove difficult for the Swarm to survive. These are very uncertain times for the franchise and the league, so the Arlottas wanted to lay their case out to the fans and be as transparent as possible about the future of the team.

    You can read the entire letter from the Arlottas on the Swarm web site at Letter from the Arlottas.