Quantity doesn't always take a back seat to quality.
As the Burnaby Lakers took the temperature of their lineup heading into last Thursday's Western Lacrosse Association junior draft, they felt the depth of the graduating 2020 class provided an opportunity.
To take advantage of it, Burnaby general manager Kevin Hill had to trade one of the club's up-and-coming stars, Ryland Rees, who was drafted second overall just a year ago. But he hopes the end result, which reaped a pair of picks in the first round will benefit the team's present and future.
"We had an offer on the table just before the draft, depending upon the players we wanted being available," remarked Hill. "We had to give up a good player (in Rees) but feel that we got fair value, and players who we can have in our lineup regularly."
Coming off a season where the club missed the playoffs for a second straight year, but by a mere point, Hill believes an injection of high-end talent at both ends of the floor could improve its chances for some post-season action. It also protects them for the eventual retirement of some of the team's most steady veterans.
The Lakers used the third and sixth picks of the draft, acquired when they dealt Rees to Coquitlam, on Robert Kidd III and Ty Yanko, who Hill envisions being regular contributors for the squad for years to come.
Even before that happened, the Lakers were able to add another offensive weapon, thanks to the league's inaugural protection/compensatory round, in the form of Ryan Martel. An offensive lefthander who is currently on the National Lacrosse League's Calgary Roughnecks playing roster, Martel posted his third straight year of 40-plus goals in the B.C. junior circuit, finishing with 46, the fourth-highest goals tally in 2019.
It followed the expected selection of Tre Leclaire by the Langley Thunder with the official first pick of the compensatory round, after Coquitlam and Maple Ridge protected two locally-produced players (Reid Bowering and Anthony Kalinich, respectively).
Only after that inaugural round was completed did Hill decide to accept the Adanacs' offer for Rees, with both Kidd and Yanko still available.
"(Kidd's) a big, six-foot-three right-handed defender who's strong on the ball," said Hill. "He's a superathlete who can transition well. He does a lot of what Rees does, very strong on the backend and can score, too."
Playing for Langley last season, Kidd produced five goals and two assists over 14 games.
Burnaby used its own pick, fourth overall, to select former junior Laker Patrick Shoemay. At six-foot-four and the 2018 B.C. junior A league's top defender, Shoemay is another big piece to a defence that has some openings.
"He's excellent on defence. We had him rated as one of the top D-men coming out of this year's draft," noted the Burnaby GM.
Yanko, meanwhile, was taken two picks later at sixth overall. The right-shooting forward displayed strong offensive skills in his graduating season, racking up 45 over 18 games, just one back of Martel.
"(Yanko) has a very high lacrosse IQ and is a good passer," said Hill. "He's able to bury the ball and really gives us another shooter on that side."
While dealing last year's second overall pick for two choices in what was essentially the second round in 2020 may not look so wise on the surface, Hill said the incentive was that moving Rees' rights now likely was the best thing for the club. The polished six-foot-two defender had indicated to Hill an interest in playing in the Professional Lacrosse League, which operates during the summers back east. It's the same league that has lured away sniper Josh Byrne from Burnaby. Rees is currently playing for the NLL's Rochester franchise and has relocated to the east coast.
"It was really difficult, when we thought about it," said Hill. "(Rees) expressed an interest in possibly playing in the PLL, and if he goes there we'd lose him for the entire year. We were looking at what we need, and that's to have a consistent lineup on the floor. That's how we're going to progress as a team, and we felt the players that were available (at those picks) would more than make up for the player we lost."
Although they didn't own a second round pick, the team continued adding to its depth by selecting Burnaby native Mac Burns at 17th overall. Considered a solid, backline specialist, Burns played his last year in junior for New West, picking up a goal and four assists over 19 games. Right after Burns, the Lakers selected another Burnaby minor talent, Kieran McKay. A six-foot-four field lacrosse midfielder at McGill University, McKay has good offensive instincts and averaged a goal a game over the past two seasons in the B.C. junior A boxla circuit.
The Lakers would also add offensive player Dawson Rodin from Coquitlam with the 20th overall pick, netminder Torin Van Rheenen from Langley at 24th overall, and Coquitlam import Philip Buque, who racked up 27 goals in 19 games.
The would choose two-way Kurtis Shum of Burnaby, defender Mackenzie Rope of Langley and Delta's Lucas Greene. to complete a busy evening.
"We felt this year's draft class was fairly loaded and we're definitely happy with how it went," said Hill.
