MLL Announces Expansion Draft Rules

[Gregg Pathiakis]

August 29, 2005 - From MLL Press Release

Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced today its Expansion Draft rules, according to MLL Commissioner David Gross. The league’s expansion draft takes place via conference call on November 1, 2005. The MLL will expand to four new cities in 2006: Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. All four teams will take part in the Expansion Draft. The order of selection is to be determined.

The MLL’s original six teams (Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester) will submit their 20-man rosters on September 15, 2005. Currently team rosters contain between 30 and 40 players. The charter franchises will protect 10 players from their 20-man rosters. The protected players may consist of up to 56% of a team’s salary cap. Original six teams may protect only one goaltender. The 10-man protected lists must also be submitted by September 15, 2005.

The complete MLL Expansion Draft timeline and rules are as follows:

September 15: “Original Six” Teams submit 20-man Roster and 10-man Protected Lists

Each Team protects 10 Players
Each Team protects up to 56% of Salary Cap
Each Team may protect only 1 goalie

November 1: 2006 Expansion Draft via conference call – 1:00pm ET

- Draft will be 13 Rounds
- A minimum of 10 Players will be claimed from the Player Pool, with no maximum.
- Once an “Original Six” Team loses 3 Players, they may protect one additional Player
- After an “Original Six” Team loses a 4th Player, they may protect one additional Player
- After an “Original Six” Team loses a 5th Player, they may protect one additional Player
- “Original Six” Teams may lose 2 additional Players for a total of up to 7

If an “Original Six” Team has less than 7 Players drafted, they can:
1. Keep the remaining Players by forfeiting their first X number of original picks in the 2006 Supplemental Draft
2. Release the Players (or some of them) into the Player Pool and retain their Supplemental Draft Picks

All Teams may begin trading at 5:00pm ET on November 1
Teams may exceed 13 total Players through trades
The Player Pool remains frozen until after the 2006 Supplemental Draft