Trade deadline day in the NLL was pretty uneventful and boring… until it wasn’t. And then it really really wasn’t. First, former MVP and Goaltender of the Year Christian Del Bianco was sent to the Vancouver Warriors for defender Brayden Laity and some pretty high draft picks. Del Bianco had been holding out this entire season, asking for a trade closer to his home in Vancouver, and since Calgary is the closest team to Vancouver that isn’t Vancouver, there was really nowhere else for him to go.

There were a few other deals made that day as well which I’ll touch on too.

Christian Del Bianco

Calgary sends Christian Del Bianco and future considerations to Vancouver for Brayden Laity, a 2025 1st, a 2025 2nd, a 2026 1st and future considerations. Finally the whole “will Del Bianco play in the NLL this year?” thing is over and we don’t have to talk about how one of the best goalies in the NLL is only on the receiving end of the NLL+ broadcasts. Two firsts, a second, and a damn good player make a pretty significant return considering that Calgary was basically handcuffed and only allowed to send him to one team.

One of the big issues involved in this trade is the fact that the CBA is expiring at the end of this season. I won’t get into the details of that because I didn’t know the details until I read Evan Schemenauer’s summary over on Lacrosse Culture Daily. There’s no point in me rewriting it all; you may as well go there too.

In addition to the CBA stuff, I think Calgary decided that (a) their current record, (b) getting Nick Rose, and (c) beating Buffalo meant that they have a serious shot at the Championship this season. Having Del Bianco on their roster but sitting at home doesn’t help them at all, but Brayden Laity will. He’s also young (only 21) so that plus the draft picks mean that even if they don’t win it all this year, they are set up for success for the next several years.

Literally everyone is happy about this deal finally getting done. Christian and lacrosse fans everywhere are happy that he’s playing again, the Warriors are happy that they have one of the best goalies in the game, and Calgary is happy that they got significant return for Del Bianco and don’t chance losing him for nothing over the summer.

Actually, one person who may not be so happy with this deal is Aden Walsh. It’s one thing to bring in a veteran goalie because your young goalie is struggling. But Walsh is having a very good season, with a GAA under 10 and a save percentage of almost 79%. To put up those kinds of numbers as a starter and then suddenly be “demoted” to backup goalie has got to be hard to take. That said, Walsh knows that if you get a chance to add CDB to your lineup, you do it regardless of how well your goalie is playing. Plus Walsh is still pretty young, so having one of the best goalies in the league on your team to teach you stuff is great for his growth. Vancouver now has one of the best goalie combinations in the NLL.

Four-way trade

Excluding the draft picks, the four-way deal basically looks like this:

• Vancouver is down John Peshko
• Ottawa is up Sam La Roue and Travis Longboat and is down Ron John and Kiel Matisz
• Buffalo is up Kiel Matisz and Ron John and is down Sam La Roue
• Albany is up John Peshko and is down Travis Longboat

The draft picks exchanged here are not insignificant; they include Vancouver getting Ottawa’s 2026 first and Ottawa getting Albany’s 2026 first, and some second, third, and fourth round picks were moved around as well.

In my opinion, the winner here is Buffalo, who pick up a strong young defender and a veteran defense / transition guy and all it cost them was a player who’d had trouble cracking their lineup and a couple of second round draft picks. The rich get richer.

Vegas / San Diego

San Diego sent Justin Sykes and a 2026 second round pick to Las Vegas for James Barclay. Barclay led the league in blocked shots with 29 in 2023, was second with 26 in 2024, but only has 6 in thirteen games this year. I can’t say I know anything about Justin Sykes, who has only played a single NLL game.

Buffalo / San Diego

I know even less about this trade. Buffalo sends prospect Marquez White to San Diego for a 2026 second and a conditional 2028 second. White is a California native who played for Princeton and recently signed with the California Redwoods of the PLL.