The Vancouver Warriors have spent the past year building flexibility for the future, and that work has put them in a position to add seven new pieces to the organization at Thursday’s 2026 NLL Entry Draft.
With two first-round selections, including the third overall pick and another 16th overall, the Warriors have plenty of opportunity to add to a veteran core that they’ve built over the last three seasons.
Vancouver holds seven selections in total: third and 16th overall in the first round, 27th and 28th in the second round, 32nd in the third round, 61st in the fifth round, and 66th in the sixth round.
It will be the fourth NLL Entry Draft for Warriors Head Coach and General Manager Curt Malawsky and his staff since joining the franchise, and they’re looking for the best player available at each pick.
“It’s a pretty deep draft,” Malawsky said. "We’re really looking to add, like we've said before, the best player available. If we think it’s an offensive guy, it'll be an offensive guy; if we feel it’s a defensive guy, it’ll be a defensive guy. At this point, we’re just excited because it’s a deep 2026 draft.”
Preparing for the draft is a year-long process for the Warriors coaching staff. Malawsky watches a steady stream of Junior lacrosse, while members of his staff focus on different areas of the country. Defensive Assistant Coach Rob Williams is the Head Coach of the Maple Ridge Burrards of the WLA, giving him the chance to watch and coach against many of the players throughout the offseason. Offensive Assistant Coach Bob McMahon follows Major Series Lacrosse, while Warriors’ Eastern scout Greg Harnett keeps tabs on players in the east.
“If we’re not at the rink, we’re at home watching it,” Malawsky said. “We put a lot of time and effort into it, I’m sure a lot of teams do, but I think visibility around the rink and watching games online is all we can do now. We do our reference checks and talk to some of their summer coaches and lean on some of the guys that you have a lot of respect for through the game to get the best perspective you can.”
Of course, the scouting process goes beyond what a player can do on the floor.
The Warriors want players who are good teammates and will fit into the locker room and team culture, while also looking for specific traits at each position.
Offensively, they want forwards who are willing to get to the middle of the floor and compete in the dirty areas to score goals. Defensively, they look for players who can bring a physical, imposing presence while understanding how to play aggressively without crossing the line.
“I think it’s like everybody says, good people make good teams, so you start with their character. You do some reference checks about what kind of person they are off the floor, and then it comes down to their work ethic,” Malawsky said. “Are they committed to what they’re doing? Are they fit? Are they in the gym all the time? Then it comes down to the fact that you can’t teach athleticism, you can’t teach size, obviously. So, big, strong athletic players are coveted.”
In recent drafts, the Warriors have also made a concerted effort to add homegrown talent.
Four of the five players Vancouver selected last year were from the Lower Mainland, while three of the six players selected in the 2024 NLL Entry Draft were from the Greater Vancouver area, including current Warriors defenceman Remo Schenato.
This year’s class has a much stronger Eastern presence, with fewer West Coast players available. That could make it difficult for Vancouver to continue its recent run of local selections, although Malawsky expects there could still be opportunities later in the draft.
“It’s a really Eastern-laid draft,” Malawsky said. “We usually try to stick to our theme. If we think that they can contribute to our organization and they’re from B.C., then that’s a bonus for us. We’re always trying to pick the local guys if we can, as long as it makes sense.”
The Warriors’ draft capital has also been shaped by moves made over the past two years.
In the four-team blockbuster trade that landed Warriors goaltender Christian Del Bianco in March 2025, the Warriors also acquired first- and second-round picks in the 2026 NLL Entry Draft from the Ottawa Black Bears in exchange for Johnathan Peshko and a fourth-round pick.
That first-round selection is the third overall pick Vancouver holds on Thursday.
The Warriors then added another first-round pick through a deal with the Buffalo Bandits during last week’s NLL Dispersal Draft.
Vancouver acquired the 16th overall pick and the rights to defenceman Luca Antongiovanni in exchange for forward Payton Cormier and the Warriors’ 11th and 23rd selections in the dispersal draft. Antongiovanni was selected in the first round (eighth overall) in the 2024 NLL Entry Draft.
Moving back into the first round gives the Warriors another opportunity to add a player they believe can benefit the club’s future.
“Being able to move up to 16 just gives us more options. That was a pretty big drop from three to 27, and there are some guys we coveted in the end of the first round, depending on how guys draft. It just gave us another opportunity to pick another guy, whether it be for the future or whether it be for this year,” Malawsky said.
“That trade was a little bit of housekeeping, a little bit of geography, and then just the ability to be able to get back into the last part of the first round was big for us.”
With seven selections and two opportunities in the first round, the Warriors have plenty of chances to add talent to an organization that has already made big changes to its roster over the past year.
The goal is to continue building depth and talent that can help the Warriors in the seasons ahead.
The 2026 NLL Entry Draft presented by Capelli Sport takes place on Thursday, September 24th at 3:00 p.m. PT. You can watch the first round live on the NLL’s YouTube and Facebook pages.