Tuesday morning, in what some fans have been calling ‘the Luka/AD trade of the NLL’, the Toronto Rock announced the trade of their veteran star goalie, Nick Rose, to the Calgary Roughnecks. This trade came to me as a complete and utter shock, as I’m sure it did for many other long-term fans. Rose was drafted by the Toronto Rock back in 2008, and after a few years of being traded between teams, he landed back in Toronto in 2012, and has been with the team since. Interestingly, the Calgary Roughnecks claimed Rose in 2011 in the Boston Blazers dispersal draft. Entering this season he had started 121 consecutive games, spanning back to 2016. For the 2023-2024 season, Rose was named NLL Goalie of the Year. This season, Rose has caught flack from players for the average playing ability, and although his stats are not stellar goaltending like we are used to seeing from the 37 year old, his stats are consistent with what can be expected from a team as beat down as Toronto has been this season.

The biggest agitator for the Rock’s struggles this years has been the never ending list of injuries, specifically of some of the biggest names in the league on both offense and defense. Tom Schreiber, TD Ireland, Mark Matthews, Latrell Harris, Challen Rogers have all seen the Injured Reserve List this season, along with 3 other players. Mark Matthews has since been placed on the season ending IR. Brad Kri was also on the PUP (physically unable to play) list for over a month earlier this season. The lack of depth, veteran experience and star power has been impacting the entire field of play. The Rock have a faceoff win percentage of 46.7% and are averaging over 22 turnovers a game. Less possession means more opportunities and time for opponents to develop their offense and find shots. As for the Toronto offense, not only do they have the worst team shooting percentage, but they are also the only team in the league shooting under 20%. Inconsistency with personnel has caused issues, as Toronto only has 10 players who have played every game so far this season, including both goalies, Rose and backup goalie Troy Holowchuk. Having only 8 consistent players in a season, can cause inconsistencies through the rest of play, and the Rock are proving that this season. Rose has seen the 4^th most shots and has the 4^th highest save percentage in the league so far this season. Typically, the more shots a goalie sees, the lower their save percentage is, as teams take advantage getting into better opportunities for shots, and more looks to cage. With the amount of key players missing, and the amount of shots Rose has seen this season, I would still consider him one of the best goalies in the league. It will be interesting to see how Rose shapes up for Calgary, as they have their first game with Rose in the lineup Saturday, March 1^st.