NLL Announces Finalists for 23-24 NLL Awards

Buffalo’s Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith, Toronto’s Nick Rose vie for MVP; Albany’s Tye Kurtz and Alex Simmons, Vancouver’s Owen Grant up for top rookie

PHILADELPHIA, May 8, 2024 – The National Lacrosse League (@NLL) today announced the finalists for its annual season-end awards honoring the best NLL players, coaches, and executives for the 2023-24 regular season.

Highlighting the major awards is the NLL Most Valuable Player honor, with two Buffalo Bandits – Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith joining the Toronto Rock’s Nick Rose as finalists.

The award winners will be announced in advance of the 2024 NLL Finals.

Most Valuable Player

• Josh Byrne – Forward – Buffalo Bandits
• Nick Rose – Goaltender – Toronto Rock
• Dhane Smith – Forward – Buffalo Bandits

Rookie of the Year

• Owen Grant – Transition – Vancouver Warriors
• Tye Kurtz – Forward – Albany FireWolves
• Alex Simmons – Forward – Albany FireWolves

Goaltender of the Year

• Doug Jamieson – Albany FireWolves
• Chris Origlieri – San Diego Seals
• Nick Rose – Toronto Rock

Offensive Player of the Year

• Josh Byrne – Buffalo Bandits
• Dhane Smith – Buffalo Bandits
• Jeff Teat – New York Riptide

Transition Player of the Year

• Ian MacKay – Buffalo Bandits
• Shane Simpson – Calgary Roughnecks
• Jake Withers – Halifax Thunderbirds

Defensive Player of the Year

• Mitch de Snoo – Toronto Rock
• Ryan Dilks – Vancouver Warriors
• Brad Kri – Toronto Rock

Sportsmanship Award

• Keegan Bal – Vancouver Warriors
• Tom Schreiber – Toronto Rock
• Lyle Thompson* – Georgia Swarm

Les Bartley Award (Head Coach of the Year)

• Glenn Clark – Albany FireWolves
• Curt Malawsky* – Vancouver Warriors
• Matt Sawyer – Toronto Rock

General Manager of the Year

• Glenn Clark – Albany FireWolves
• Jamie Dawick – Toronto Rock
• Curt Malawsky – Vancouver Warriors

Executive of the Year

• John Catalano – President and Chief Executive Officer, Halifax Thunderbirds
• Mike Hancock – Director of Communications and Lacrosse Operations, Toronto Rock
• Oliver Marti – Chief Executive Officer, Albany FireWolves

Tom Borrelli Award (Media Person of the Year)

• Teddy Jenner* – TSN play-by-play and co-host, “Off the Crosse Bar” podcast
• Adam Levi – NLL.com, Inside Lacrosse, NLLPA contributing writer and host, “Lacrosse Matrix” podcast
• Graeme Perrow – NLL Chatter

*denotes 2023 winner

Each NLL team had the opportunity to nominate and vote for each of the awards with the exception of Teammate of the Year, as each NLLPA Player Representative nominated a player from their team for this honor that was voted on by the NLLPA and its 15 Player Representatives. The Teammate of the Year will be announced with all awards’ winners.

The League added Offensive Player of the Year to the lineup of awards this year to align with the other position-based honors: Defensive Player of the Year, Transition Player of the Year, and Goaltender of the Year.

Once nominations were finalized, each NLL team cast three ballots for each award and select media were eligible to vote for all awards except Teammate of the Year and Executive of the Year.

Voting members selected their top five choices for each award among all nominated persons. Points were distributed for each first through fifth place vote as follows:

• 1st Place – 10 points • 2nd Place – 7 points • 3rd Place – 5 points • 4th Place – 3 points • 5th Place – 1 point

The person that accumulated the most points will be announced as the winner, while the top three in each category are designated as the award finalists. The All-NLL and All-Rookie teams are determined by the top vote getters in each position-based award. The All-Rookie team will be made up of six rookies, regardless of position. The All-NLL First Team and All- NLL Second Team will be made up of six individuals – two forwards, one transition player, two defenseman, and one goaltender – per team.

About the National Lacrosse League

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is North America’s largest professional lacrosse leagueand welcomed more than 1 million fans for the second year in a row during the 2023-24 season. Founded in 1986, the NLL is comprised of 15 franchises across the United States and Canada, and recently unveiled its largest brand campaign ever, “Welcome to The Next Major LeagueTM” and introduced its comprehensive grassroots initiative, NLL UnBOXedTM, that will expand the League’s footprint to more than 60 communities across North America by 2027.

For the latest scores and developments in the National Lacrosse League, please visit: NLL.com and find the NLL on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.