NLL Draft History: From the MILL Era to the Modern Entry Draft

NLL draft history reaches back before the league adopted its current name. The official record book includes Baltimore Thunder entry-draft selections from 1988 and Buffalo’s selection of Darris Kilgour first overall in 1991. The history also includes separate expansion, supplemental and dispersal drafts—not just the annual entry draft. NLL 2026–27 record book, pp. 35, 64.

The most useful way to follow that history is to separate three things: the year a player was selected, the kind of draft involved and the franchise name at the time.

Before the modern NLL draft

The league began play in 1987 as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League, became the Major Indoor Lacrosse League in May 1988 and announced the National Lacrosse League structure in July 1997. Earlier MILL selections therefore belong in the historical account, even though they predate the NLL name. Official league timeline.

The team archives document varying draft depths. Buffalo’s 1991 entry-draft list runs through five rounds; its 1997 list runs through nine. Toronto’s records show selections in the ninth round as late as 2002, through the eighth in 2003 and through the sixth in 2004. These lists show why one year’s draft depth should not be applied to every year. Official record book, pp. 35, 156–157.

The 1997 transition also produced more than one selection event. The Ontario Raiders’ history lists an expansion and supplemental draft, a Western Canadian draft and an entry draft separately. Chris Gill, Dan Stroup and Pat Coyle came through the Western Canadian draft; Ken Millin was the Raiders’ first-round entry selection. Toronto Rock draft archive.

Notable first-overall entry selections

This is a selected historical timeline, not a complete list of every No. 1 pick. Team names identify the selecting club at the time, rather than a later destination.

Draft year	No. 1 selection	Selecting team
1991	Darris Kilgour	Buffalo Bandits
1999	John Grant Jr.	Rochester Knighthawks
2002	Patrick Merrill	Toronto Rock
2005	Brodie Merrill	Portland Lumberjax
2010	Cody Jamieson	Rochester Knighthawks
2012	Mark Matthews	Edmonton Rush
2015	Lyle Thompson	Georgia Swarm
2017	Josh Byrne	Buffalo Bandits
2020	Jeff Teat	New York Riptide
2024	Brennan O’Neill	Philadelphia Wings
2025	CJ Kirst	Toronto Rock
2026	Finn Thomson	Rochester Knighthawks

Sources: official record book, NLL retrospective on first-overall picks, 2020 draft recap, O’Neill’s NLL profile and 2026 draft results.

Patrick and Brodie Merrill became the first brothers both selected No. 1 overall: Patrick in 2002, then Brodie in Portland’s first entry draft in 2005. Both were defensemen, demonstrating that the top pick has not been reserved for offensive players. NLL’s Merrill brothers retrospective.

Several top picks became central to championship teams. Jamieson helped the original Rochester Knighthawks win three consecutive titles from 2012 through 2014. Matthews helped the Rush win in 2015, 2016 and 2018. Thompson won league MVP and Finals MVP during Georgia’s 2017 championship season. Those are career outcomes, distinct from the players’ draft positions. NLL historical retrospective.

How the draft evolved

1998: the draft became an on-site broadcast event. In September 1998, the league announced that its annual entry draft would leave the office for the first time, with Empire Sports Network covering proceedings at Rochester’s ESL Sports Centre. That was a presentation milestone—not the beginning of drafting itself. League timeline.

2018: expansion shaped entry-draft allocation. Philadelphia and San Diego were set to build their inaugural rosters through both an expansion draft and an entry draft. The announced coin-toss procedure gave its winner the choice of the first expansion selection or first entry selection; the other club would receive the remaining priority. Both also were allocated additional selections at the ends of rounds two, three and four. NLL’s 2018 expansion announcement.

2020: the selection show went virtual. The league described the 2020 event as its first virtual Draft Selection Show. COVID-era NCAA eligibility also meant that many selections were returning to college rather than immediately joining an NLL roster. The league’s published eligibility provisions specifically address players selected with remaining college eligibility in the 2020–2025 drafts and retention of their rights. 2020 recap, draft eligibility provisions.

2026: six rounds did not mean equal selections for every club. The results list six rounds, with trades and compensatory selections altering team allocations. Rochester took Finn Thomson first overall; Toronto selected Silas Richmond second using a pick obtained from Calgary. Draft position alone therefore does not establish where the selecting team finished the preceding season. 2026 draft results.

Reading an old draft record correctly

For team-by-team research, the official record book is the starting point. Its draft sections preserve earlier franchise names: Baltimore’s selections appear within Colorado’s history, while the original Rochester Knighthawks’ selections appear within Halifax’s. The newer Rochester franchise has its own section. Official record book, pp. 64, 93, 125.

Keep these distinctions in any draft ledger:

• Round versus overall pick: a first-round selection is not necessarily the first overall selection.
• Selection versus debut: draft year does not automatically identify a player’s rookie season.
• Repeated selections: Buffalo’s history lists John Grant Jr. in the third round in 1995; the original Rochester franchise lists him first overall in 1999. A draft record should preserve both entries, rather than silently deleting one. Record book, pp. 35, 93.
• Draft type: entry selections should not be merged with expansion or dispersal selections in a No. 1 entry-pick list.

For the related question of how franchise changes affect statistical attribution, see what happens to NLL team stats and records when a team folds.