Sitting in the catbird seat, the Burnaby Lakers savoured the moment Wednesday for just a few seconds before letting the rest of their Western Lacrosse Association brethren know the obvious.
By selecting Josh Byrne with the first overall pick in the 2016 WLA Junior Draft, the Lakers addressed a need for a lefthanded shooter and a foundation building block who could lead their playoff charge.
The offensive talent, who is preparing to debut for Hofstra University after starring at Nassau Community College the past two seasons, comes with the complete pedigree: a 6-foot-3 lefthander, scored 118 goals in 43 B.C. junior A games in New West, and confident player who is projected to step right into the senior circuit.
But will he come?
“We just got a text from (Byrne) and he’s really happy to be with us, and that makes a difference,” said Burnaby general manager Paul Rowbotham. “You don’t have the trouble we had years ago that ‘I’m not playing for you, I want to play for them’… We haven’t had that for years.”
Using the first overall pick acquired in a large deal with Nanaimo, the Lakers weighed its options in what was considered a four-deep pool of impact players. Rowbotham noted that getting who they wanted and addressing the need they wanted were primary reasons why they parted with the third, 10th and 17th selections, as well as a third round pick in 2017.
The deal also saw Casey Jackson head to Nanaimo, while Burnaby received Eli McLaughlin.
“Basically what we did was enabled ourselves to pick who we wanted to go with, rather than wait which is what the other guys did,” said Rowbotham. “Nobody made a bad choice in the first round, (and) there isn’t one kid who won’t set the world on fire.”
Byrne has already demonstrated his skills at the senior level, playing up for the New West senior Salmonbellies for eight playoff games, counting three goals and 12 assists.
With the second overall choice, New Westminster grabbed Coquitlam defender and faceoff chief Michael Messenger, while Coquitlam selected hometown transition player Challen Rogers third overall.
The Salmonbellies, with the fourth overall selection acquired in a swap last month with Maple Ridge, chose Langley product James Rahe.
Langley grabbed 2015 BCJALL scoring champion Cole Shafer with the fifth pick, while Nanaimo closed out the first round by grabbing Jordan Gilles of Delta and Taylor Stuart of Coquitlam.
Rowbotham, who prior to the draft admitted that the team was debating which offensive side needed the most attention, was pleased at the balanced attack the club will have when the 2016 hits its stride.
“We needed a lefthander and (Byrne) was a lefthander. If we needed a righthander, we might have gone another route. We wanted to fill a need and it was really simple – mind you we fell asleep waiting for our next draft (pick).”
The Lakers weren’t called to select again until the fifth round, when they tagged Spencer Stevens, who collected six goals and 13 assists over 14 games on a very deep junior Adanacs lineup.
“Here again we picked an offensive stick (with Stevens)… We’ve got reasonably good depth at righthander and lefthanders so we’ve tried to balance it out,” remarked Rowbotham. “We’ve got five righties and four lefts. Sometimes four is too many and the next time it’s not enough.”
In the later rounds, the Lakers added Justin Appels, Ryan Vogrig, Cameron Hudspeth and Jordan Hara, all junior Burnaby products.
Tyler Kirkby was the first junior Laker to go off the board at 29th overall, with New Westminster claiming the 5-foot-9 righty. The Simon Fraser University student counted 13 goals and 24 assists in 13 games last season.
He was among a handful of players who the senior Lakers had eyes for, but lacked the pick to draft.
“There were some kids who went in the second and third round that I’d love to get my hands on, but hopefully McLaughlin and Byrne will make a difference,” he said. “We’re young but we have a mix of young and old.”
The other area that was questionable prior to a swap earlier this month was netminding.
The addition of Zak Boychuk from Nanaimo, backup Joe Bell and question marks around last year’s starter and Ontario native Tye Belanger puts the netminding picture up in the air. Tyler Richards – who retired prior to last season due to concussions but rejoined the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Stealth earlier this week – is just another element to an area of question marks, said Rowbotham.
“We’ve got some goalies, but we have no idea what’s going on,” admitted Rowbotham. “Richards signed with the Stealth and whether or not he plays for us is entirely up to him.
“We’ve got Boychuk, Joe Bell and we really didn’t need (to draft) goaltending. The thing we’re concerned with is, you can’t be bringing guys if they don’t have a hope in hell of making it, especially if they have a shot at making another club.”
Maple Ridge surprised some by selecting three netminders, including highly-ranked Charles Claxton from Victoria with the 11th pick overall.
The main question regarding elite players remains – will they play for free in the WLA, or take the lure of better options elsewhere?
New West general manager Dan Richardson said its case by case, but felt getting past the draft and having players’ rights allows for a chance for each team to make their case.
Talking with Messenger, Rahe and junior Bellies grad Dane Sorenson, who New West selected 13th overall, Richardson feels confident that he at least has a shot to sell them on being a Salmonbellie.
“We’ve had discussions with all three and we’re comfortable with where we are. We still have three-to-four months and (Messenger and Rahe) are away at university,” said Richardson. “There’s always the chance one or two may want to play (pro field lacrosse in the U.S.) but it’s three or four months away and now we can have some serious talks with them because we own their (Canadian Lacrosse Association) rights.
“We’ll see where it goes. We’re pretty comfortable – we’ve been down this road before. Now they can actually hear what we have to offer.”
The WLA season is slated to start May 17, when Burnaby hosts Coquitlam.
