Saskatchewan Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan said it wasn’t easy to decide which players to leave unprotected for the upcoming National Lacrosse League (NLL) expansion draft.
The San Diego Seals and Philadelphia Wings are entering the NLL for the 2019 season and will each select one player from each team.
Among those left available by the Rush are forwards Marty Dinsdale and Jeff Shattler, both whom Keenan expects to be back with the Rush next season.
“Leaving Marty available was a very hard decision,” Keenan said, although the team has the option of matching any offer made to him as he is a restricted free agent.
Shattler, who was the MVP of the Champion’s Cup, has one year left on his contract.
Also left unprotected is forward Dan Dawson, transitions Jeff Cornwall, Adrian Sorichetti and Jeremy Thompson, defencemen Nik Bilic, Matt MacGrotty and Brett Mydske, and goaltender Tyler Carlson.
Thompson and Mydske are both unrestricted free agents and have stated they want to continue their careers with the Rush.
Keenan said Carlson, who is an unrestricted free agent, could be taken as experienced goaltending is a hot commodity in the upcoming expansion draft.
Saskatchewan has the right to re-acquire any player taken in the expansion draft if a trade can be worked out.
The Rush hold three first-round picks in the 2018 entry draft – fifth, tenth and eleventh – and three first-round picks in the 2019 entry draft that can be used to swing a trade to hold on to a current player.
“We can still do some things, but we don’t have anything pre-arranged yet. If nothing comes up, we’ll just see how things fall,” Keenan said.
“We did contemplate going with (protecting) four forwards and six defencemen, but that could have seriously depleted our offence.”
The NLL expansion draft takes place on July 16.
Here is the list of protected Saskatchewan Rush players:
Forward: Mark Matthews, Robert Church, Ben McIntosh, Ryan Keenan, Curtis Knight
Transition: Chris Corbeil
Defence: Kyle Rubisch, Ryan Dilks, Mike Messenger, Matt Hossack
Goalie: Evan Kirk