Well if Boston is out for this season who do you think/hope the Swarm will draft in the dispersal? Odds are that each team will draft at least two players maybe even three from the Boston team.

LW's Hopes:

1. Pat Merrill D - Best proven NLLer on the Boston roster
2. Pat Campbell G - Proven NLL goaltender would be valuable sonce Disher appears to be out for the season with injury.
3. Alex Smith F - - American which some of you would like in the organization and good on faceoffs, which will be an asset if the Swarm aren't able to draft Merrill.


LW

I know a lot of fans are hoping for Brock back, but I agree with LW that probably is not going to happen. The three listed sound like they would make great additions to the team.

One big vote for Alex Smith.

He'd be another great reason to attend Swarm games all by himself.

Merrill would be a great option as well.

Boston Blazers roster page

Here are six players of interest some of which have already been noted.

1. D-L-Brock Boyle
   Fantastic transition player but will Marty give him a second chance in Minnesota?
   
2. F-R-Alex Smith
   Fantastic face off specialist at the University of Delaware and with the Rochester Rattlers of the MLL. All-American at Delaware. Has never played indoors and probably would be used similar to Peter Jacobs of the Philadelphia Wings.
3. G-L-Pat Campbell
   30 year old veteran goaltender who proved himself well in Edmonton. Would be a valuable back up to Nick Patterson if Matt Disher is not returning. From what I have read, Campbell is very exciting to watch in net.
4. F-R-Andrew Lazore
   Rarely used by the Arizona Sting, Lazore is young with a lot of potential. Played under Minnesota Swarm Head Coach Duane Jacobs on the Iroquois Nationals team at the 2007 WILC. However, we are loaded on the right side.
5. F-L-Gewas Schindler
   Has scored 112 goals and 148 assists in 83 games in his NLL career that started in 2000. However, he has played for six teams during his career. Also, has never played in a NLL playoff game. Also played under Jacobs at the WILC. Marty did mention to me at the Fair that he was interested in adding a presumably veteran lefthander.
   
6. D-R-Shawn Summerfield
   Played with the Swarm in 2005 and 2006. Very physical defender who could fill an enforcer role after Michael Kilby's departure but may not have the transition game to play under Jacobs.

It now looks like the Arizona Sting may be joining the Boston Blazers as teams who will be sitting out the 2008 season.

Arizona out for '08 NLL Season

Arizona Sting Roster

So a potential dispersal draft gets even more intriguing with a team that has made it to the Champions Cup in 2005 and 2007 and lost in the West Final in 2006.

So here is a list of possible players the Swarm should look at:

1. F-R-Dan Dawson 12/11/81
   Best player on the team, hands down. Top three in scoring in the NLL. 6-5 with a fantastic move to the net. He takes quite a beating from defenses every game but never seems to slow. If Arizona and Boston are the teams to be dispersed, Dawson will be the first pick without a doubt. Portland must be salivating.
2. F-R-Craig Conn 11/16/83
   Even though he will be out for the year with an injury, the former Swarm is a dynamic offensive player and will be a solid addition for any team in 2009.
3. D-R-Scott Self 7/7/79
   The Sting’s best defender has been an All-Star in multiple years.
4. T-R-Chris McKay 8/13/80
   A solid two way player. A close friend of Ryan Ward when they grew up in Victoria. Both played together with the Shamrocks and at college at Butler.
5. T-R-Peter Veltman 11/30/82
   Cousin of Jim Veltman of the Toronto Rock. Like McKay, plays well both ways.
6. G-L-Rob Blasdell 5/15/70
   Veteran NLL goaltender who had one of his best seasons last year for the Sting.
7. D-R-Peter Lough 1/4/75
   The Sting’s captain also is a top face off specialist.
8. D-L-Matt Grimes 3/15/86
   The Sting’s first round pick in 2006 is a talented, young defenseman.
9. G-L-Mike Attwood 10/9/84
   Former Swarm goaltender who played three games in 2005 and was on the practice squad in 2006. He finally got some good experience last year as Blasdell’s backup.

Except in Minnesota

With AZ not playing this definitely shakes things up with a dispersal draft. There is a lot of talent available who can make immediate impacts with any team in the league. The Swarm should end up with at last two solid roster worthy players out of thiis dispersay.

LW

Swarm are going to have some tough decisions to make. With 4 #1 picks next year, there are a lot of chips to play with.

Do the Swarm trade up and try to get Dawson?
If a solid goalie is still at the #9 pick do the Swarm take them (Campbell or Attwood may be there ar 9)?
Do the Swarm trade down for a player on another team?
Do the Swarm only want two roster ready players from the draft or the possibility if trading for 3-4 total spots?

I'm sure the Swarm will be on the phones looking at all these questions...things are going to happen fast, that is for sure.

The player I would like to see with the Swarm is Lindsay Plunkett...he hasn't been mentioned above, but he put up 60+ points last year...

I think that this would be a good opportunity to fill some holes on the roster, I have taken the liberty of compiling a list of possible players who would fit in well with this team, at least in my opinion. Obviously Dan Dawson would be ideal although probably unlikely.

Boston:

Pat Merrill
Pat Campbell
Alex Smith
Gewas Schindler
Jack Reid

Arizona

Pete Veltman
Matt Brown
Peter Lough
Brad Self
Rob Blasdell
Andy Secore
Lindsay Plunkett

There are many other players available in the draft although these are the ones I believe Marty will consider selecting based on the roster he has and where he could fill some holes.

This is a great opportunity for the Swarm to strengthen their roster and position in the league, I hope that Marty uses his picks wisely.

LW

Looks like they are going to do a player "loan" dispersal draft and Boston and AZ will have the rights to any players for the 2009 season. This presents huge issues for teams drafting...How aggressive are you in making trades for a one year player? What happenbs if Boston or AZ decide after this year that they are not going to resume operations? Do they have another dispersal draft with the same players? What about drafting order for 2009? Where do AZ and Boston draft in the 2009 entry draft? Do they go first or last? Yikes...let's just win the Cup this year and forget all about it!!

After whoever we get in the dispersal draft, I can't see those players ever wanting to go back to Arizona or Boston after winning the 2008 Champions Cup for Minnesota.

I wonder how much any of these players will have the opportunity to decide their status for 2009.

No team that has suspended operations has ever come back the following year. There's always a first time but it hasn't happened yet. I can see Boston playing in 2009 but who knows about Arizona.

I tend to think this "rent-a-player" idea will bring a lot of headaches not yet known to the NLL. If Boston or Arizona wants to keep their players, they should be playing this season in my opinion. You either pay up or shut up.

I am also hearing that the dispersal draft will be held on Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week but no one has said for sure.

LW

A couple of things I would like to know about the rules of a dispersal "loan" draft is how Boston and AZ will draft in the 2008 entry draft...seems to me that Boston could not possibly draft #1 again because that would essentially be rewarding them for sitting out, same with AZ if they drafted anywhere above where they drafted for this year. Seems to me that a legitimate consequence of them sitting would be them having to draft at the end of each round...

So thinking more about the dispersal draft next week- seems to me the Swarm will do one of three things at #8 (I really don't see them being aggresive and trading up fro Dawson nor do I see Portland giving up that pick)

Option #1 - Pick a goalie at #8 I think there will be a decent chance that Campbell may be there and Attwood is well known by the Swarm and will surely be there at #8. So basically if the Swarm think Attwood or Campbell is better than Croswell, I think there is a strong chance one of them will be taken. Although, Croswell did have an excellent WLA season...

Option #2 - Lefty Forward- Plunkett probably won't be around at #8 so they would have to trade up...I do see this as a strong possibility. Andrew Lazore or Gewas Schindler are also strong candidates at this spot. Although I think Lazore is a righty.

Option #3 - Best Available/Big Defensemen I would love it if Matt Alrich dropped to this spot...also I think the Swarm will take a hard look at Mike Grimes at this spot as well. Other than that, McKay apppears to be the safest pick here (best available).

So given all the moves made on draft day with the Swarm, and the trends we have all seen, I have no idea what will happen, but I would think trading up this year for Lindsay Plunkett makes the most sense and would imporve them the most. There is no doubt that with the talent in this draft, the Swarm have to get better because everyone else will improve also...

Dispersal Draft - Tonight at 7:00pm CST

The dispersal draft will be live on NLL.com starting at 7:00 pm CST. The draft has three rounds and the Swarm will draft 8, 17 & 32. The second round order is inverted.

Arizona gets the chance to reclaim their players next year while Boston gives all theirs up and will be in an expansion draft next year.

I would say that it would be worth trading up in the draft to acquire Pat Merril because you know he would become Swarm property beyond this season, although I wonder if Portland also likes the idea of having both Merrills on their team. I know I would.

Should be interesting, can't wait to see what happens.

LW

I don't really agree with Boston getting another shot in the expansion draft. All the teams already lost players and not they will lose more. I would have like to see both teams re-claim their players like Arizona is doing. But who knows. After all is said and done maybe we'll come out ahead when it's all over.

#1 pick next year is way more valuable than #1 this year I think...Zack Greer

The results were as follows:
First Round
1. Portland - Dan Dawson (F)
2. New York - Patrick Merrill (D)
3. Philadelphia - Rob Blasdell (G)
4. Chicago - Scott Self (D)
5. Minnesota (from Edmonton)** - Andy Secore (F)
6. Chicago (from Toronto)* - Lindsay Plunkett (F)
7. San Jose - Peter Veltman (F)
8. Minnesota - Ryan Avery (G)
9. Calgary - Pat Campbell (G)
10. Buffalo - Craig Conn (F)
11. Colorado - Bruce Murray (D)
12. Rochester - Jack Reid (D)

Second Round
13. Rochester - Matt Lyons (F)
14. Colorado - Matt Brown (F)
15. Buffalo - Brian Croswell (F)
16. Calgary - Bruce Codd (D)
17. Minnesota - Mike Grimes (D)
18. San Jose - Sean Morris (F)
19. Toronto - Curtis Ptolemy (F)
20. Edmonton - Chris Seller (F)
21. Chicago - Brock Boyle (F)
22. Philadelphia - Jamie Rooney (F)
23. New York - Matt Alrich (D)
24. Portland - Derek Malawsky (F)

Third Round
25. Portland - Brad MacDonald (D)
26. New York - Greg Downing (D)
27. Philadelphia - Brenden Thenhaus (F)
28. Chicago - Andrew Lazore (F)
29. Edmonton - Chris McKay (D)
30. Toronto - Jon Harasym (F)
31. San Jose - Keegan Davidson (D)
32. Minnesota - Mark Tinning (F)
33. Calgary - Greg Hinman (D)
34. Buffalo - Joe Smith (D)
35. Colorado - Jed Prossner (F)
36. Rochester - Alex Smith (FO)

Can't wait to see the Swarm faithful chime in on the new selections to the club.

http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/index.php...topic=1454&st=0

I think we got it covered STX. Posted as the drafting occured on Monday night.

Thanks Corporal.

It's obvious the Swarm Web site is in flux. Tried on Wednesday to chime in, but wasn't able to sign on.

As was stated, it continues to be a youth movement in Minnesota.

The quest to the cup continues!