2023-2024 Record: 10-8, fifth place, lost to Buffalo Bandits in the quarter-finals
New Faces: Joey Cupido, Seth Van Schepen, Toron Eccleston
Key Losses: None
Before writing this outlook I had to take a double-take as I was hard-pressed to find any key losses for the Georgia Swarm. Very rarely do we see a team go through the off-season with almost 100 per cent player retention.
This bodes well as this Georgia team continues to build chemistry. Yet, they made some of the biggest moves in the off-season. They traded their 10th overall selection in the Panther City dispersal draft to pick up Seth Van Schepen from Calgary. Then they pulled off a great free agency signing by bringing in transition speedster Joey Cupido.
The way this roster is shaping up, there is no doubt this is a playoff team that will be causing fits for their opponents all season long. General Manager John Arlotta and Head Coach Ed Comeau have put together a stacked team.
Offence
Lyle Thompson. That’s pretty much all you need to know. But in all seriousness, the Swarm have a great group of players to complement Lyle Thompson.
Shayne Jackson is no stranger to finding the back of the net and you can add in Lyle’s brother Miles, Brendan Bomberry, Shayne Jackson, Andrew Kew, and Seth Oakes and this is a very formidable group.
The only downside is that this same Swarm offence tended to become streaky last year and have runs where the offence dried up. Having a guy like Lyle Thompson, the other forwards can’t simply rely solely on him.
Defence/Transition
Oh boy, where to begin. They are bringing in nearly 13 defencemen into training camp and just making the practice roster is going to be difficult.
The Swarm’s training camp roster is going to include Liam Byrnes, Seth Van Schepen, Bryan Cole, TJ Comizio, Jeff Henrick, Jordan MacIntosh, Mike Manley, John Ranagan, Kason Tarbell, Ethan Riggs, and Adam Wiedeman. That is definitely comparable, if not exceeds, top teams in Toronto, Albany or San Diego.
The Swarm were able to re-sign free agent Jeremy Thompson, so there is no concern at the faceoff dot. What will be interesting is the signing of Joey Cupido. Immediately, he improves Georgia’s transition game. He had an absolutely great summer, but he’s had injury problems in the past. If he can stay healthy, it’s a great pickup by Georgia.
Goaltending
Brett Dobson has really come into his own and has shown he is one of the top goaltenders in the NLL. Boasting a 10.69 GAA and a .779 save percentage last year, he is going to be the backbone of this team. And, at only 24 years of age, he is only going to get better which is scary for the rest of the league.
The good news as well is that they have experience behind Dobson if he happens to get injured. Angus Goodleaf will likely play the backup role. Goodleaf isn’t someone you would bet the bank on, but he is a solid second string.
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