Rock kickstart retool with trades of Rose, de Snoo

MATT VOLZ

Editor in Chief

For the past several years, the Toronto Rock have been one of the top teams in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).

They’ve reached the league semifinals in each of the last four postseasons, even though each of those runs have ended at the hands of the Buffalo Bandits.

Just last year, the Rock finished 15-3 in the regular season and earned the top seed in the playoffs.

That success has not followed the team in 2025.

Through their first 11 games, Toronto is 3-8, tied with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and Albany FireWolves for the NLL’s worst record.

The Rock lost each of their first five games, including their first two games in which they were outscored by a total of 26-9.

They won three in a row from late January to early February, but that stretch has been followed by three straight one-goal losses, all of which were at home.

The home games have looked vastly different for the Rock this year, as they are temporarily playing in Mississauga, Ontario as their regular home in Hamilton undergoes renovations.

The arena in Mississauga, the Paramount Fine Foods Centre, seats roughly 5,400 fans per game.

That’s a steep departure from FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, which seats over 17,000.

It hasn’t been the year many fans envisioned for the team, and on Tuesday, Feb. 25, the Rock made it clear that they are heading into a roster retool.

Adam Levi, a leading NLL insider and the 2024 recipient of the Tom Borrelli Award for media person of the year, broke the news that Toronto goalie Nick Rose was headed to the Calgary Roughnecks.

The 37-year-old goalie is regarded as one of the league’s top players at his position, and he was named NLL Goalie of the Year last season.

Rose was originally drafted by the Rock in 2008, but he didn’t start his playing career with them.

He made his debut with the Boston Blazers in 2010, shortly before the team disbanded the following year.

Rose was claimed by Calgary in the dispersal draft after the Blazers folded, but he didn’t stay there long, as he was traded to Toronto on March 19, 2012.

In his 13 years with the team, he earned one All-League First Team and two All-League Second Team selections.

Toronto reached the championship once with Rose in net, falling to the Edmonton Rush in 2015.

In 11 games this season, Rose holds a 10.81 goals against average and has stopped 78% of the shots he’s faced.

While those aren’t stats that put him in the league’s basement, it’s a noticeable drop from last season where he led all starting goalies, stopping 81% of his shots faced and recording a 9.18 goals against average.

Now, Rose heads to Calgary along with transition player Tyler Hendrycks and a fourth-round pick in this offseason’s draft.

The move allows Rose to head back to a Calgary team in playoff contention, as the Roughnecks are tied with the Colorado Mammoth for fifth place as of Tuesday, Feb. 25.

The Roughnecks have had a hole in net this season, as former goalie Christian Del Bianco has held out since July 2024.

Del Bianco announced over the summer that he wouldn’t return to Calgary, and an article published by Inside Lacrosse in November said he likely won’t return to play until he is traded.

Now that Rose is headed to Calgary, a trade may be in the works before the trade deadline on Monday, March 10.

Heading back to Toronto in the deal are two players, goalie Gowah Abrams and transition player Robert Hudson, as well as Calgary’s first-round pick in the 2026 draft.

Abrams has battled with Colby Bowman for the backup goalie spot in Calgary, and through five games played, he holds a 13.77 goals against average and has stopped 73% of the shots he has faced.

This trade is highly impactful to the playoff picture, but the Rock decided they weren’t done.

Later in the day, the team announced it was trading defenseman Mitch de Snoo and transition player Chris Corbeil to the Philadelphia Wings.

De Snoo, a former Bandit, has been one of the league’s best defensemen during his tenure with the Rock.

He was the NLL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, and up to this point in the season, he ranks fifth in the league in loose ball collections with 109.

He and Corbeil, who has one assist in 10 games, head to a Wings team right in the middle of the standings at 5-6.

In return, Toronto will receive Philadelphia’s first-round pick in the 2025 draft.

The Rock now have three first-round picks in 2025 as they try to retool their roster.

It’s a far cry from where the team has been the last few seasons, and it seems that the rebuild is on in Ontario.