Toronto, ON – The Vancouver Warriors selected a total of seven players, including four in the first round, at the 2023 NLL Entry Draft on September 16th at the TRAC in Toronto, Ontario.
Included in these picks were forward Payton Cormier fourth overall (round one), forward Brock Haley seventh overall (round one), defenceman Brayden Laity ninth overall (round one) and goaltender Connor O’Toole 18th overall (round one). Also selected were faceoff specialist Alec Stathakis 40th overall (round three), forward Sam Handley 55th overall (round four), and forward Drew Andre 84th overall (round six).
Cormier, 23, will return to Virginia this fall for his fifth and final college season, having scored 52 goals last season in 15 games to lead the Cavaliers to a Final Four appearance in NCAA Div 1. The 6’2”, 230-pound attacker has recorded 159 goals and 37 assists over his 55-game career as a Cavalier, boasting an exceptional 43.7% shooting percentage. Cormier has increased each of his goals, assists, and points totals every year through his college career so far and notched a career-high seven-goal game in February against Ohio State. He was also a pivotal member of Virginia’s 2021 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship-winning team.
Haley, 21, will return to Vermont for his fifth college season as well, after posting career highs in goals (31) and points (52) in just 14 games last season. Over the course of his college career with Vermont, the 6’0”, 177-pound forward has recorded 123 points (70-53-123) in 51 career games played. He is also coming off a sensational season with the Whitby Warriors of the OJLL, having scored 119 goals, including 74 in the regular season, 31 in the playoffs and 14 helping Whitby win the 2022 Minto Cup.
Laity, 19, still has one year of junior eligibility remaining after playing this year with the Port Coquitlam Saints (BCJALL) and suiting up with the Langley Thunder of the WLA. The 6’3”, 200-pound defenceman is the two-time reigning defender of the year in the BCJALL and was named defender of the year this past season in the ALL WEST. Laity is available to join the Warriors this season.
O’Toole, 20, is also available to join the Warriors this season. The 6’1”, 170-pound goaltender is considered one of the best junior goaltenders in the country and played this past season with the Brampton Jr. Excelsiors. In 19 games played, O’Toole posted an .823 save-percentage and 8.82 goals-against average to rank third and fifth, respectively, among goalies with at least 10 games played.
“From the day that we arrived, we talked about how important it was to build through the draft and it was imperative that we did that,” commented Warriors General Manager and Head Coach Curt Malawsky. “We had a successful free agency, and the next step was to be able to secure a lot of draft picks and build that way, but it’s never that easy. To lock those four first round picks up was huge.”
NLL Training Camps are slated to officially open during the weekend of October 28-29 and the 2023-24 NLL Faceoff Weekend is scheduled for December 1-2. The Vancouver Warriors season schedule is expected to be announced soon.
For front-of-the-line access to 2023.24 Warriors Season Ticket Memberships, place your $25 deposit now at tickets.vancouverwarriors.com. Additional information on Warriors Wallets, group and single game tickets, VIP suites, Stick to School, and more can be found at vancouverwarriors.com.
