MLL: Powells Highlight Star-Studded Supplemental Draft

from press release

Major League Lacrosse and its teams completed the 2010 Supplemental Draft on Thursday, as 74 total players were added to team rosters, according to MLL Commissioner David Gross.

The Supplemental Draft featured some famous names from years past, including Casey Powell, the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Machine. The rest of the first round was highlighted by other big-time players such as Dan Dawson (No. 2, Toronto), Pat Heim (No. 3, Boston), Ryan Powell (No. 4, Long Island), Garrett Billings (No. 5, Denver) and Mark Steenhuis (No. 6, Toronto).

Each offseason, the Supplemental Draft allows for teams to reload their rosters in preparation for the upcoming season's training camp. This year's draft totaled 12 rounds in order to get each team's roster up to 35 players.  From here on, teams are allowed to add up to five more players immediately from the player pool or wait to host an open tryout first. Players who were drafted and remain on a team roster will automatically be invited to their team's training camp, while those who went undrafted will hope to be claimed at a later date.

The Machine hope that Casey Powell will turn around their fortunes and avoid a fourth straight non-playoff season. He brings a championship resume to Chicago, having played most recently in 2008 for the MLL champion Rochester Rattlers. For his career, Casey is one of the all-time leading scorers in league history with 388 points in 82 regular season games.

Toronto moved up higher in the first round with a trade on Wednesday in order to grab Dan Dawson at No. 2 overall.  Dawson, who could see an increased role next year, played in only four games with the Nationals last summer in his first career MLL action.  Toronto's No. 6 pick was used on Mark Steenhuis, a Canadian player who has a tremendous indoor resume but very limited MLL experience.  Steenhuis will be looking to play in his first regular season games next summer.

The Boston Cannons added former No. 1 Collegiate Draft pick Pat Heim with the third overall pick as they hope to find help at midfield to take pressure off of Paul Rabil. Heim, a Penn State product, took last year off but had two productive seasons in Chicago in '07 and '08, compiling 39 points in 23 games. 

Long Island took Ryan Powell, Casey's younger brother, at No. 4 overall. Ryan will bring another impressive playing record back to the league in 2010 after a summer off. Ryan is one of only two players, along with John Grant, to win MLL Bud Light MVP twice. He most recently played with Denver in 2008 and was a member of San Francisco and Rochester earlier in his career, which has seen him accumulate 371 points in 81 games.

Denver's first-round pick went to Garrett Billings, a 2009 graduate of Virginia.  n his senior season at Virginia he helped lead the Cavaliers to the NCAA tournament and a 15-3 record while scoring 59 points. He was drafted No. 32  overall in the 2009 Collegiate Draft but did not see the field as a member of the Toronto Nationals.

Many other big-name players were picked up in the draft, including several who will be donning a new uniform next summer. Former Outlaws midfielders Jeff Sonke and Josh Sims were grabbed by Chicago and Washington, respectively.  Long Island did well to pick up younger stars Mike Culver (formerly of Chicago) and Greg Gurenlian (San Francicso), while also reclaiming veterans Blake Miller and Tim Goettelmann.

To see the full results of the 2010 MLL Supplemental Draft, click here.