Over the last week, the Philadelphia Wings have made a handful of roster moves. Four more Wings players had their contracts extended, two players were traded away, and two other players were free-agent signings. In 2021, Philadelphia is taking on a different look in the NLL.
Trade Talk
Firstly, defenseman Nick Finlay was sent to the New York Riptide just over two weeks ago. The Philadelphia Wings received a 2021 fourth-round pick in return. Last season, Finlay played five games, tallying a goal and an assist. Defensively, he finished with a plus-three turnover rate (turning the ball over twice and causing five turnovers.) Upon his arrival with the Riptide, he will have played on his third different NLL team.
More recently, the Philadelphia Wings traded Josh Currier, a 2020 first-round pick, and a 2021 first-round pick to the Saskatchewan Rush for Ben McIntosh, two 2020 second-round picks, and a 2023 second-round pick. The trade deal, player for player, was a relatively even trade after the 2020 season. After the included package of picks, the Rush looks like they got the better end of this deal. Currier did play four more games than McIntosh, but both players finished 2020 with 35 points. McIntosh is the scorer, and Currier is the playmaker.
Draft capital is the aspect where this trade has a winner and loser. Would you rather keep the two first-round draft picks in the next two NLL drafts, or stock second-round picks in 2020 and 2023? The Philadelphia Wings are playing the long game, which could assist in a constant rebuild of the franchise. However, the Saskatchewan Rush may be in a better position to improve immediately because of prime draft capital. We’ll be sure to keep an eye on the production of Ben McIntosh versus Josh Currier in 2021.
Free Agent Additions
Two additions to the Philadelphia Wings are Corey Small from the Buffalo Bandits and Alex Crepinsek from the Georgia Swarm. These free agents fill the roles of the Wings players traded away. Small finished with three more points than Josh Currier in three fewer games. That kind of offensive output is necessary for Philadelphia. The Wings are slightly upgrading with Small from Currier.
Alex Crepinsek had more playing time than Nick Finlay in 2020 by six games. Finlay scored more points offensively, but Crepinsek shows more defensive promise. Crepinsek finished with a plus-eleven turnover rate (turning the ball over twice and causing thirteen turnovers.) Crepinsek signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Wings. Corey Small signed a one-year deal.
Contract Extensions
The Philadelphia Wings re-signed two of their defensemen from 2020. The first is the team leader in caused turnovers, Liam Byrnes. Byrnes signed a two-year extension with the Wings after contributing five points offensively and finishing with a plus-two turnover rate (turning the ball over twelve times and causing fourteen turnovers.) Additionally, Byrnes is a captain in the MLL with the Philadelphia Barrage.
Alex Pace is another defenseman who re-signed to the Philadelphia Wings. His contract was a one-year extension in comparison. He contributed four points offensively in as many games as Liam Byrnes. Defensively, he’s similar to Nick Finlay. Pace played in eight more games than Finlay in 2020.
Matt Marinier and Kyle Marr both received one-year extensions this offseason from the Philadelphia Wings. Both players were additions to the Wings in the 2019 NLL entry-draft. Marinier was a second-round pick in 2019 via a trade with the Georgia Swarm for a 2021 second-round pick. Marr was a fourth-round pick in 2019 for Philadelphia. In the MLL, Marr was a teammate with Liam Byrnes on the Philadelphia Barrage.
