The future is now.
When you trade away
seven draft picks – including three first round selections – in one swoop, the cards are on the table.
The New Westminster Salmonbellies are betting on the coming season, and a few ones after that, following a blockbuster swap with the Langley Thunder.
New West acquired veteran defender Brett Mydske, sniper Joel McCready and forward Nathan Stewart for a haul that includes the fifth, sixth, 13th and 20th picks in this year’s Western Lacrosse Association junior draft.
The Thunder are also getting journeyman Sean Lundstrom, New West’s 2018 first round pick and selections in rounds two and four in 2020.
There is little doubt, with the price being three first rounders-plus, that New West put a huge value on the three players – especially
Mydske, the 2015 and ’16 WLA defensive player of the year and first-team all star, as well as a New West minor product.
“We’ve had our eye on (Mydske) for quite a while, ever since he was drafted,” New West president and GM Dan Richardson said. “He’s a local kid and what he brings is lacrosse IQ, leadership, a real character guy who is popular with his teammates.
“We asked for McCready for similar reasons – he’s an impact player. He’s a bulldog who will crash the net and get up with a smile on his face.”
Having dealt 2014 WLA top defender Jeff Cornwall a month ago for the two Langley-bound 2017 first round picks, Richardson zoomed in to fortify that defensive spot but with a player who could be a better fit chemistry-wise.
Mydske, 28, has starred in both the WLA and National Lacrosse League over the years, as well as played for Team Canada at two World championships.
Taken second overall in the 2010 WLA draft, he has evolved into a franchise-type player who was a major part in the Thunder’s run to the Mann Cup finals in 2010 and ’11.
McCready, meanwhile, scored at better than a goal-a-game pace with Langley, and is in his seventh pro season as a member of the NLL’s Vancouver Stealth.
The St. Catharines, Ont. native didn’t play a game last year in Langley but in four games with Vancouver this season has scored three times and set up nine others as a teammate and occasional linemate with fellow Bellie Logan Schuss.
In 2015 the 29-year-old Burnaby firefighter was awarded the NLL’s first-ever Teammate of the Year award. A popular teammate, McCready brings a hot stick to the right side and a winning pedigree.
Stewart, at 22, is the youngest player in the deal but holds upside as an offensive contributor. A New West native and junior Bellie product, he missed last season due to a torn ACL but is slated to return to the game next month with his Mars Hill Lions university team.
“This deal took like six or eight weeks to get done,” remarked Richardson. “This is my 15th year at this and this is by far the biggest deal we have done. We just kept going back to (Langley), back and forth and hammered out the final details on Saturday.”
The major concern, as it is with every top player, is if they will commit for the coming season, or are considering more lucrative offers from one of Ontario’s richer teams.
“I’ve talked to both Brett and Joel and they are very happy to be joining the Bellies,” noted Richardson. “Even with this trade our average age is something like 25.5 years (old), and that’s still young in my books.”
Richardson, who just a few weeks earlier acquired the two first round picks from Maple Ridge, said the deals cap a busy offseason, as he believes this year’s draft wouldn’t produce a game-breaker at either picks 5 or 6, while the incoming players make New West a Mann Cup contender.
“I think with those picks we saw that there were depth players but no superstars (available) at No. 5 and 6,” said the Bellie GM.
“When you can get a World-class player like (Mydske), and a top offensive guy like (McCready), three guys whose character fits what our organization is built on, you make the deal.”
Richardson said he still has another trade in the works and has an iron or two out in the recruiting field. As to next month’s junior draft, New West will take a seat until their first pick, which is 41st overall.
All these changes were partially to address issues that left a sour taste in management’s mouth after falling to Maple Ridge in last year’s semifinals. Getting to a league final isn’t the goal, said Richardson, as he and head coach Steve Goodwin are targeting a national championship run.
“This lineup on paper reminds me of our teams in 2007 and ’08,” said Richardson. “Our goal is to not just be competitive in our league, but with (Ontario).”
The WLA draft is slated for Feb. 16 in Vancouver.
