It’s been a long process, but unfortunately for two National Lacrosse League franchises, their day has come. On Thursday, the NLL announced that both the Philadelphia Wings and Ottawa Black Bears have ceased operations, triggering a Dispersal Draft that is set to take place on Sept 15 at 4:00 pm ET. Subsequently, the NLL’s off-season will now take place in a two-week window, with free agency opening on Sept 18 at 5:00 pm ET, while the 2026 NLL Draft will be on Sept 24 at 6:00 pm ET.

The last time we saw multiple NLL teams fold in the same calendar year was back in 2008. The Arizona Sting ceased operations after sitting out the previous season. Their Dispersal Draft took place on June 30, 2008, with Dan Dawson being selected by Boston. Right before the season was set to start, the Chicago Shamrox also went under, forcing a second Dispersal Draft. Once again, Boston picked first, adding goaltender Anthony Cosmo.

This will be the second Dispersal Draft in the last three off-seasons. Panther City Lacrosse Club folded back in 2024.

It’s a sad day for the league as a whole. Jobs are being cut, there are fewer roster spots to go around, and two fanbases are going to be without teams to root for going forward.

Let’s look at the situation as a whole, the players who are available this year, and the major storylines surrounding this draft.

How did we get here?

The Ottawa Black Bears’ franchise was less than 10 years old, originally stemming from the New York Riptide, who were created as an expansion franchise in 2018, alongside the new expansion Rochester Knighthawks.

It was a rough ride for the Riptide in their first season in the NLL, as they went 1-12 before the year came to an abrupt halt due to the COVID pandemic. But by finishing last that year, they landed the first overall pick in the 2020 NLL Draft, and the chance to draft a franchise-altering prospect in forward Jeff Teat.

But Teat was just one piece of the puzzle for a Riptide team looking to rise up and build into a playoff contender. However, they could never quite get over the hump during their time on Long Island. After four seasons without a playoff berth, along with low attendance numbers, the Riptide franchise relocated to Ottawa, looking for a fresh start in a lacrosse hotbed in Eastern Ontario.

After a tough opening campaign that saw the team go 8-10 for the second straight year, the Black Bears had a very promising start to the 2025-26 season, sitting at 8-5 heading into the final two months of the regular season before hitting speed bumps down the back stretch. That culminated in a win-and-in game against Halifax in the final game of the regular season. Unfortunately for the Black Bears, they’d come out on the wrong side of the final score, as Halifax secured the eighth seed. They finished the campaign with an 8-10 record.

Unfortunately for the franchise, they ceased operations without a single postseason appearance or year with a record over .500 in six seasons.

On the other side, the Wings made a return to Philadelphia after previously ceasing operations and moving to New England in 2014. The expansion franchise began playing in 2018. Like the Black Bears, the franchise had a tough time drawing fans, and with little in terms of results to show for it, operating the franchise became an uphill battle. The Wings’ lone playoff appearance came in 2022, when they lost in the first round to San Diego.

Past that, Philadelphia finished just three of its eight campaigns with a .500 record or better. With the additions of Brennan O’Neill, Mitch Jones, Joe Resetarits, and Nick Damude, things looked to be on the rise for the franchise. But a shock finish last year after buying at the deadline left them in a tough position — additionally, they traded their first-rounder to Toronto, which landed the Rock Owen Hiltz.

Finishing with the league’s worst record this past year, on top of the franchise looking for new ownership after Comcast pulled out of ownership, and the writing was unfortunately on the wall for the Wings.

2026 NLL Dispersal Draft

The remaining 12 NLL franchises will now have the chance to add to their respective rosters in the 2026 Dispersal Draft. This is how the current draft order will shake out

Oshawa
Las Vegas
Rochester
Calgary
San Diego
Halifax
Colorado
Georgia
Buffalo
Saskatchewan
Vancouver
Toronto

Generally with Dispersal Drafts, the teams will continue to pick until all players have been taken or teams begin to pass on their selections. In 2024, the Dispersal Draft was two rounds long, however. But with two teams worth of players being available, this year’s iteration will likely be longer.

Player Contract Status

While every player on the two rosters is available to be selected in the Dispersal Draft, there are a few caveats to keep in mind when making picks.

Most importantly, unrestricted free agents are able to be picked, but they have the freedom to walk directly to free agency. Certain players can still, under an age threshold, can be franchise tagged, but the unfranchisable players can decline the tag, making that pick very volatile unless a team is certain that individual will sign with them.

Here are the players under contract from both teams

Liam Aston (F), Cole Begley (D), Kevin Brownell (T), Phil Caputo (F), Bo Columbus (D), Nick Damude (G), Isaiah Davis-Allen (D), Eric Fannell (F), Aidan Fearn (D), Zach Higgins (G), Callum Jones (D), Connor Kearnan (F), Sam LeClair (F), Matt Marinier (D), Brennan O’Neill (F), Alex Pace (D), Jake Saunders (D), Larson Sundown (F), Jeff Teat (F), Ryan Wagner (D)

Here are some other designations to keep in mind for the draft:

Restricted Free Agents - Team holds first negotiating rights

Unfranchisable UFAs - Players born in 1992 or earlier may reject Franchise Designation

Franchisable UFAs - Players can be drafted and have the Franchise Designation placed on them

Not Eligible for Free Agency - Players who have not become eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency because of a lack of games played in the league.

Draft List - Players who have been selected in the NLL Draft but have not signed contracts, but were placed on the protected Draft List by their respective team

RFA

Andrew Borgatti (D), Sam Firth (F), Pat Foley (D), Ron John (D), Deacan Knott (G), Travis Longboat (F), Nicholas Volkov (D)

Unfranchisable UFAs

Tyler Carlson (G), Chris Corbeil (D), Rob Hellyer (F), Kyle Jackson (F), Luc Magnan (D), Reilly O’Connor (F)

Franchisable UFAs

Scott Dominey (T), Dylan Hutchison (D), Evan Messenger (D), Brent Noseworthy (D), Liam Patten (D), Matt Rambo (F)

Not Eligible for FA

Mitch Armstrong (D), Dustyn Birkhof (D), Bryan Costabile (F), Brady Kearnan (F), Ben Kromer (D), Reed Kurtz (T), Lukas Nielsen (F), Landen Sinfield (F), Koby Smith (D), Michael Sowers (F), Jake Stevens (D), Justin Sykes (F), Tanner Thomson (F), Mason Woodward (D), Dalton Young (F)

Draft List

Greg Elijah-Brown (F), Shane Knoblauch (F)

Teat’s New Home

Regardless of how the draft goes down, there’s certainty about who will go off the top of the board. Jeff Teat is one of the league’s superstar players and an immediate franchise-changing talent out of the front gate.

Teat will stay close to home in Oshawa, where he’ll team up with fellow first-overall pick Dyson Williams, Ethan Walker, and Dawson Theede — also accounting for Alex Simmons and Tye Kurtz on the righty side.

It’s a home-run move for both sides. Teat, a Brampton, Ontario product, gets to stay in his home province and play for a team that should be an immediate contender again this year. With a strong, gritty defence and Doug Jamieson backstopping the FireWolves, it’s a great situation to be a part of in the present and future.

What Happens After Teat?

After the first pick, the draft will actually get interesting because there are a number of avenues that teams could go with their picks. The most interesting selection in the entire draft will be Vegas at two. They went all out to improve their offense in free agency last year, adding Mitch Jones, Chris Cloutier, and Chase Fraser. But they still have glaring needs on the back end and in the crease.

At second overall, they’ll have their choice between reigning Defender of the Year Callum Jones, Zach Higgins, or Nick Damude. The Desert Dogs looked to address their goaltending in last year’s Draft, grabbing Caleb Khan. But he still has two years of junior eligibility and needs proper time to develop into the team’s starter of the future. It’s extremely hard to pass on a shutdown defender of Jones’ quality. But can Vegas also afford to pass on two starting goaltenders who could immediately solve their needs in net?

With a mixed-team draft, where does Brennan O’Neill land? Apart from Damude, he’s the best name available from the Wings. San Diego certainly makes a lot of sense with their need for lefties and history of bringing in Americans. Where does Lukas Nielsen land after a solid end to last year after being moved to Philly? Does a team take a swing at a UFA in hopes of signing them?

There will also be significant interest in Deacan Knott in this draft. The shot-stopper was impressive when given chances in the cage last year for Philadelphia. Knott will be 24 ahead of training camp. He’s got a heap of potential and could turn into a legitimate starter for an NLL team. It’s hard to see him making it to the second round. An obvious fit for Knott is Buffalo. A team who just lost the best goaltender of all time in Matt Vinc. Now, it’s a goaltender duel between 2007-born Kiigs Shognosh and Evan Constantopoulous. Some added assurance in Knott — who has started NLL games — would help the Bandits immensely.

Draft day is going to be fascinating and shape the landscape of the league for the next five years plus.

The 2026 NLL Draft

The two folding franchises not only have an effect on the players currently in the league. There’s also a snowball effect on the upcoming 2026 NLL Draft. Not only are there fewer jobs, but the two teams who were slated to select first and second, respectively, in the draft, are now no more.

Here is the new revised first-round order based on the now-removed picks.

Rochester
Toronto (Via CGY)
Vancouver (Via OTT)
Las Vegas
San Diego
Buffalo
Georgia
Saskatchewan
Georgia (Via COL)
Calgary (Via VAN)
Las Vegas (Via HFX)
Halifax (Via TOR)
Halifax (Comp)
Calgary (Comp)
Georgia (Comp)
Buffalo (Comp)
Las Vegas (Comp Via SD/COL)

Similarly to Panther City, any outstanding picks traded by Ottawa and Philadelphia that belong to current NLL teams should stand. Hence Vancouver still being able to select with Ottawa’s pick they acquired two years ago.

Looking at the current order, Rochester now owns the first-overall pick, and they can have the pick of three elite righty forwards to help bolster one of the best offensive units in the entire league. Or, they could opt to move back and accumulate assets and address other areas of need or hope a player falls to them later in the draft.

Additionally, now the reigning NLL champions and the team with the best regular-season record in the league last season now pick in the top three. We’ll have more on the new landscape of the 2026 NLL Draft in another piece. But this shakeup is going to be a massive help to a handful of teams.

Black Bears, Wings fold…What Now?