Steelhawks Pick 12 in ALL Expansion Draft

The Whitby Steelhawks selected their initial 12 players in the Arena Lacrosse League Expansion Draft Wednesday night, October 25th. The Steelhawks selected two players from each ALL team in preparation for their first season which opens in Oshawa Friday December 29 against the defending ALL Cup Champions Oshawa Outlaws.

The 12 Players selected by the Steelhawks:

Oshawa Outlaws: Goalie Lukas Coote, Josh Miller

Paris RiverWolves: Andy Campbell, Jordi Jones-Smith

Peterborough Timbermen: Cody McMahon, Garrett Lewis

St. Catharines Shockwave: Josh Becker, Dylan Laprade

Toronto Monarchs: Jayson Crawford, Phil Caputo

Six Nations Snipers: Tyler Albrecht, Travis Elvins

General Manager Brad MacArthur shared his thoughts on the team's selections "We have a short and long term plan for this team and selected players based on that plan. Some players will be with us for the upcoming season, others will not as we plan on making immediate moves. We also plan on investigating free agent opportunities.”

True to his word, later in the evening MacArthur announced the following trades and gave his insight on the deals:

Travis Elvins was traded to the Peterborough Timbermen for Pat McCrory and a 2018 3rd Round Draft Pick. 

"Pat gives us some faceoff experience plus a tenacious work ethnic on defense, the draft pick is something we can use to leverage our needs.

Both Josh Becker and Dylan Laprade, selections from the St. Catharines ShockWave, were returned to their original ALL team, with 2017 1st and 3rd round picks coming back in return. 

"Geography played a factor here as Laprade attends Brock University and Becker lives in western New York. Obtaining two early draft picks enables us to select players that fit our plan or leverage to make other moves which was a priority for us.

Finally late in the evening the Steelhawks sent Phil Caputo back to the Toronto Monarchs, getting back Oshawa native Mark Cockerton and a 2017 3rd round pick in return. Both Caputo and Cockerton will be attending NLL camps with ambitions of making the big league, Caputo with the Toronto Rock, Cockerton with the New England Black Wolves. 

“If Mark does come back, it gives us a local player with offensive upside who can play in a variety of situations. The draft pick gives us another top 20 selection this year.”

MacArthur wasn't done there as he wasted little time adding Free Agent goalie Tyler Glebe once the Free Agency period was declared open following the Expansion Draft.

“Gavin and I have spent a lot of time the past couple days evaluating which players were going to work best for us as we launch the Steelhawks. Now that this part of the process is complete we’ll turn our focus to free agency and prepping for the entry draft on December 2^nd.”

About the Steelhawks: The Whitby Steelhawks are part of the seven team Arena Lacrosse League, playing home games at Children's Arena in Oshawa. The Steelhawks are managed and coached by two former National Lacrosse League players, Brad MacArthur and Gavin Prout. Free Agent players seeking a tryout with the Steelhawks should contact brad.macarthur@arenalacrosseleague.com