Clutch Kings: Team Rankings & Analysis
Zach Manns, Saskatchewan Rush (Photo: Jeff Crawford)
The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings tracks an individual player’s game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goals, then weighs them based on when they’re scored (first, second, third or fourth quarter, plus OT), but also in what on-floor situation they’re finished (even-strength, power-play or short-handed goals). The Clutch Kings countdown calculates the league’s most money goal scorer all season long, crowning the king at the conclusion of the current NLL campaign. Click here for a more detailed breakdown of Clutch Kings scoring.
Ryan Keenan and Robert Church, Saskatchewan Rush
While individual clutch-scoring performances are what we typically focus on in this weekly piece, a single player cannot win an NLL Cup alone, correct?
As we’ve outlined in the past, clubs with higher team Clutch Kings point totals have consistently 1. made the playoffs, 2. furthered their seasons to the NLL Cup Finals, and 3. often win it all too.
This week, we’ve calculated all 14 NLL team’s average CK points per game, and ordered them from #1 to #14 based on that per-game-clutch production. Some rankings are pretty obvious, while others not so much. Check out our team-based clutch findings below, including every teams Top 5 CK point leaders.
1. Saskatchewan
Zach Manns 23.75 (5/3/4)
Robert Church 13.00 (0/2/2)
Austin Shanks 10.50 (3/0/3)
Ryan Kennan 5.75 (4/1/0)
Brock Haley 5.00 (0/2/1)
Not surprisingly, the Rush are #1, and by a decent money-scoring margin. We’ve covered Zach Manns’ clutch touch to in-depth levels over the last two seasons. Manns trails only Jeff Teat for our Clutch Kings lead ahead of Week 14, topping Saskatchewan in game-tying and game-winning goals, plus co-leads in go-ahead goals too. With that said, Sask is getting steady clutch production through their entire front door, with Manns, Robert Church and Austin Shanks all on our updated leaderboard below. When you look a most NLL Cup-winning rosters, they almost always have the same forward depth and clutch-scoring skills as we’ve seen from the Rock roster so far this season.
2. Toronto
Owen Hiltz 22.75 (4/4/2)
Chris Boushy 10.50 (2/1/2)
Sam English 6.50 (1/2/0)
CJ Kirst 6.00 (4/1/0)
Multiple tied at 6.00
In recent weeks, we highlighted just how rare the Rock having a clutch scorer like rookie Owen Hiltz has been for the franchise during their more modern era. While the team likely wouldn’t object to Hiltz scoring a bit more early on, his finishing in the fourth is clutch consistency Toronto hasn’t had in a minute. The fact that Mark Matthews, who co-leads the Rock lineup with two game winners isn’t listed above (and no, he’s not one of the multiple tied at 6.00), shows how much clutch-scoring depth Toronto has so far this season.
Larson Sundown, Ottawa Black Bears (Photo: Greg Mason)
3. Ottawa
Jeff Teat 25.75 (4/6/2)
Larson Sundown 7.00 (3/0/1)
Connor Kearnan 6.50 (1/1/1)
Reilly O’Connor 6.00 (1/1/1)
Sam Firth 6.00 (2/1/0)
A big reason Ottawa ranks so high is due to Jeff Teat having by far his most clutch NLL season to date, which we’ve reviewed in recent weeks. Larson Sundown, who has been accurate as hell this year, and Connor Kearnan, who consistently has ranked above average in Clutch Kings over the last number of seasons, add some depth here. But make no mistake, even with Rob Hellyer (1/2/0) in the house, much of Ottawa’s standings success still runs through Teat.
4. Buffalo
Dhane Smith 16.00 (2/2/2)
Ian MacKay 9.25 (3/3/1)
Tehoka Nanticoke 8.00 (1/4/0)
Kyle Buchanan 6.00 (2/0/1)
Josh Byrne 5.50 (0/1/1)
At 4-6 and presently outside of a playoff spot, how do the Buffalo Bandits rank so high here? Because their offense is doing more than enough to keep them competitive in almost every game this season, but unlike past recent runs, they are struggling to secure late leads and ultimately wins. Josh Byrne, who was our Clutch King winner two years ago, has just two goals that register in our Clutch Kings math. Kyle Buchanan was one of our highest ranked clutch scorers last year, but barely ranks in our Top 50 clutch scorers in 2026. Dhane Smith and Ian MacKay have scored almost half of Buffalo’s game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goals ahead of Week 14, and could use a hand with the heavy lifting. Bottom line, their top shooters (all of ‘em) need to play big when it matters most or this four-peat seeking season will slip away soon. If they make the playoffs, however, look the fuck out.
Will Malcom, Colorado Mammoth (Photo: John Matthew Harrison)
5. Colorado
Will Malcom 12.25 (4/3/2)
Andrew Kew 8.50 (0/2/2)
Dylan McIntosh 8.25 (0/2/2)
Owen Rahn 8.00 (1/3/0)
Thomas Vela 7.50 (1/1/1)
The Colorado Mammoth, who during their recent Cup Final seasons, saw names like Eli McLaughlin and Connor Robinson lead in the clutch-scoring category. With McLaughlin’s future still seemingly in doubt and Robinson now in San Diego (and Ryan Lee injured, again), Mammoth GM Brad Self has done an exceptional job rebuilding their offense, and not always with the most obvious adds. Second-year pro Owen Rahn, who has played transitionally before and this past summer was one of the OJLL’s best off-ball forwards, has been so low-key money for the Mammoth in 2026. Rhan averaged 0.65 goals per game with Orangeville last year. Right now, he’s scoring 1.57 goals per in the pros and co-lead the squad in go-ahead goals.
6. Vancouver
Curtis Dickson 16.25 (3/2/3)
Jesse King 13.75 (2/5/1)
Keegan Bal 9.75 (2/2/2)
Adam Charalambides 3.75 (2/1/0)
Shane Simpson 3.50 (0/1/1)
After a somewhat slow start finding up-front success this year, Vancouver’s offense is much more dialled these days. Their stars and playing like league-leading stars, so it’s no surprise that Dickson, King, Bal and Charalambides (the first four on their forward depth charts), are the ones championing their clutch-scoring effort after a solid 7-3 start. We’ve seen teams attempt putting star-studded offenses like this together in the past (like the Boston Blazers and more recently San Diego Seals), but they’ve lacked chemistry, defined roles and, well, sustained success. The Warriors seems to be avoiding that.
Shayne Jackson and Lyle Thompson (Photo: Nick Iwanyshyn)
7. Georgia
Shayne Jackson 15.00 (1/4/3)
Nolan Byrne 11.00 (3/2/1)
Lyle Thompson 8.50 (1/1/1)
Kaleb Benedict 3.75 (1/1/1)
Jacob Hickey 2.50 (1/1/0)
The Swarm’s rank here isn’t bad considering Lyle Thompson has just a single game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning goal after ten games this year – he’s usually a lot higher by this point in most past seasons. Shayne Jackson, another regular on the CK leaderboard, easily leads the team in go-ahead and game-winning goals, while rookie Nolan Byrne tops the Swarm with three game-tying goals. The team’s strength this year has obviously been goalie Brett Dobson (our midseason pick for GOTY and MVP) and their dynamic defensive game led by Jordan MacIntosh (one of our midseason TPOTY contenders) and rookie Michael Grace (TLM’s ROTY runner-up right now). With that said, Georgia’s offense has been heating up, both in straight and clutch scoring, and that trend shows in the standings.
Georgia First 5 Games
Goals Average: 8.2
Record: 2-3
Georgia Next 5 Games
Goals Average: 12.6
Record: 5-0
Defense may win championships, but not if you can’t score, and the Swarm offense have clearly upped their effort in that critical Cup-contending category.
Mitch Jones, Las Vegas Desert Dogs (Photo: Candice Ward)
8. Las Vegas
Mitch Jones 8.75 (2/2/1)
Chris Cloutier 6.50 (4/2/0)
Jackson Webster 5.00 (1/0/1)
Jonathan Donville 5.00 (1/0/1)
Multiple tied at 4.00
The only team scoring more straight goals per game than the Las Vegas Desert Dogs are the Saskatchewan Rush, who are averaging just .2 goals more per game.
Goals Per Game
Saskatchewan 12.5
Las Vegas 12.3
Rochester 12.2
Colorado 11.7
Ottawa 11.4
Vancouver 11.3
Toronto 11.1
Buffalo 10.9
San Diego 10.5
Georgia 10.4
Calgary 9.7
Philadelphia 9.3
Oshawa 9.3
Halifax 8.9
So, if that’s the case, why is Saskatchewan so much higher here? Well, outside of Mitch Jones and Chris Cloutier (and half of Cloutier’s clutch goals happened in one game during a 16-13 win over Oshawa on Jan. 31), there isn’t much clutch scoring after them. Having Chase Fraser on the IR for three weeks and counting now isn’t helping their clutch-scoring effort, clearly. They’ve inked Kevin Crowley seemingly in response to Fraser’s absence, but at least since we rebooted the Clutch Kings, Crowley has not excelled in this category.
The other issue with the Desert Dogs is they’re letting in so many goals, they’re offense can’t keep up with the back-and-forth ball or chasing opposition leads. While Las Vegas is easily one of this year’s highest scoring teams, no one is allowing more per game then them, creating an environment that usually leads to clutch-scoring failure.
Goals Against Per Game
Georgia 7.4
Saskatchewan 9.0
Vancouver 9.2
Colorado 9.4
Halifax 9.9
San Diego 10.4
Toronto 10.6
Oshawa 11.1
Ottawa 11.4
Buffalo 11.6
Philadelphia 11.9
Rochester 12.0
Calgary 12.3
Las Vegas 12.8
9. Oshawa
Ethan Walker 9.50 (2/1/2)
Alex Simmons 9.00 (5/2/0)
Dawson Theede 8.50 (1/3/1)
Tye Kurtz 6.75 (0/4/0)
Dyson Williams 5.75 (3/1/0)
Only Halifax has a Clutch Kings leader with a lower CK point total than Oshawa has, who are one of only four times currently scoring under ten points per game. The FireWolves have had issues maintaining a lead, and actually rarely play with one, period. In their last game, Oshawa was tied 0-0 vs. San Diego for 3:57, they trailed the Seals for 56:03, and did not hold a lead for even a single second. Outside of the odd game, the rest of their results have seen similar one-sided scoring trends. At 2-9, the FireWolves season is all but done, likely needing to go undefeated the rest of the way for any chance at a playoff spot. Alex Simmons co-leads the league with 5 game-tying goals.
Connor Fields, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: Jonathan Tenca)
10. Rochester
Connor Fields 12.00 (2/2/2)
Zed Williams 5.50 (1/2/0)
Ryan Lanchbury 5.50 (3/3/0)
Jeremy Thompson 4.00 (0/0/1)
Josh Mederios 3.00 (2/0/0)
While Connor Fields still ranks reasonably high on our leaderboard, after that, the Knighthawks have not had much clutch scoring this season. Heck, two of their five above are defensemen. While Thomas McConvey and Ryan Smith are tied for second for the team lead in goals (18 each), the pair have a combined tiny two goals that register in our Clutch Kings calculations (1 go-ahead goal each). That’s well below average for above average goal scorers, and it’s hurting their ability to win games of late.
Rochester First 4 Games
McConvey Goal Average: 2.8
Smith Goal Average: 2.2
Team Record: 4-1
Rochester Next 4 Games
McConvey Goal Average: 1.0
Smith Goal Average: 1.75
Team Record: 0-4
Also worth noting, Smith is close to a full goal per game down from last year’s impressive season. Unlike Saskatchewan or Vancouver, Rochester’s top forwards are not scoring consistently enough when the game is on the line, well, past Fields. They’ll need more, much more, if the 2026 playoffs are in their future.
Phil Caputo and Brennan O’Neill (Photo: Greg Mason)
11. Philadelphia
Brennan O’Neill 10.50 (0/7/0)
Phil Caputo 6.50 (1/1/1)
Michael Sowers 6.50 (1/3/1)
Kyle Jackson 5.50 (1/3/0)
Blaze Riorden 3.50 (2/1/0)
Brennan O’Neill, who was our midseason Breakout Player of the Year, has more go-ahead goals than any other player in the league. In fact, he has almost as many go-ahead goals as the rest of Philadelphia’s roster combined. The only thing keeping O’Neill from ranking much higher on our updated leaderboard, is that six of his seven go-ahead goals have been scored from quarters one to three, plus a handful on the PP (see why that matters in our CK match). The Wings in general are not scoring those important score-swinging goals late, which is continuously costing them results. Kyle Jackson, who has played all of three games for the Wings after being released by goal-starving Oshawa, is already one of Philly’s top clutch scorers. Joe Resetarits, who has excelled here in previous seasons, has just one game-tying and one go-ahead goal this year.
12. Halifax
Cody Jamieson 9.00 (3/1/1)
Clarke Petterson 7.50 (0/1/1)
Jason Knox 7.50 (4/0/0)
Randy Staats 4.00 (3/0/0)
Ryan Terefenko 2.50 (1/1/0)
Their top players are not scoring nearly enough, both in straight scoring and most definitely when it comes to game-tying, go-ahead and obviously game-winning goals. Not exactly breaking news, but that has clearly been an issue for most of the season in Halifax. Last year, Clarke Petterson had 2 game-tying, 6 go-ahead and 3 game-winning goals. See his clutch stat line above. He’s nowhere near those numbers this year, although his OT winner versus Buffalo in Week 3 was cold as fuck. Losing Thomas Hoggarth to injury early has obviously not helped matters, last year’s 32-goal scorer on the IR since December 8. Debatable if trading Dawson Theede to Oshawa helped with much outside of giving some youngsters extra minutes. Theede’s CK point total this year would put him nearly at the very top of Halifax’s first five above.
Tre Leclaire, San Diego Seals (Photo: Kalea Vizmanos)
13. San Diego
Tre Leclaire 12.50 (3/1/2)
Dylan Watson 8.00 (1/1/2)
Zach Currier 7.50 (1/1/1)
Connor Robinson 3.50 (1/1/0)
Multiple tied at 2.00
The Seals have been pretty hot of late, going 5-1 over their last six. Most of those wins, however, have been against teams that rank really low here and in the unified standings. San Diego’s remaining regular season schedule gets pretty steep, starting with a date in Denver this upcoming weekend. Tre Leclaire easily leads the team in our clutch-goals analysis, and is tied for 11th on our updated leaderboard. Concern: Connor Robinson, who was a Clutch Kings regular and even winner while in Colorado, has just one game-tying and one go-ahead goal this year. More concerning: Wes Berg, who won our Clutch Kings countdown last year, has all of one goal to register as clutch this year: one game-tying goal. That’s it. Of San Diego’s eight remaining games, all are against team’s presently in a playoff position, many of which rank really high in our CK team analysis too.
14. Calgary
Tanner Cook 14.00 (3/3/1)
Riley Loewen 7.00 (4/0/0)
Haiden Dickson 4.50 (2/1/0)
Brayden Mayea 4.00 (2/0/1)
Noah Manning 2.50 (1/1/0)
We barely had enough names to fill their Top 5 above. Only seven players have scored a game-tying, go-ahead or game-winning goal for Calgary this year, the lowest team total in the NLL right now. They’ve scored just five go-ahead goals total, and Tanner Cook, who we recently highlighted as one of this year’s most relied-on forwards, has three of them.
Clutch Kings: Week 14
CKs Rank. Player (NLL G Rank) Team, CK Points (GTG/GAG/GWG)
1. Jeff Teat (1) Ottawa, 25.75 (4/6/2)
2. Zach Manns (T5) Saskatchewan, 23.75 (5/3/4)
3. Owen Hiltz (T23) Toronto, 22.75 (4/4/2)
4. Curtis Dickson (2) Vancouver, 16.25 (3/2/3)
5. Dhane Smith (T12) Buffalo, 16.00 (2/2/2)
6. Shayne Jackson (T18) Georgia, 15.00 (1/4/3)
7. Tanner Cook (8) Calgary, 14.00 (3/3/1)
8. Jesse King (T12) Vancouver, 13.75 (2/5/1)
9. Robert Church (T18) Saskatchewan, 13.00 (0/2/2)
10. Tre Leclaire (T10) San Diego, 12.50 (3/1/2)
11. Will Malcom (T18) Colorado, 12.25 (4/3/2)
12. Connor Fields (T3) Rochester, 12.00 (2/2/2)
13. Nolan Byrne (T44) Georgia, 11.00 (3/2/1)
T14. Brennan O’Neill (T12) Philadelphia, 10.50 (0/7/0)
T14. Austin Shanks (T12) Saskatchewan, 10.50 (3/0/3)
T14. Chris Boushy (T37) Toronto, 10.50 (2/1/2)
17. Keegan Bal (T12) Vancouver, 9.75 (2/2/2)
18. Ethan Walker (T55) Oshawa, 9.50 (2/1/2)
19. Ian MacKay (T37) Buffalo, 9.25 (3/3/1)
Scoring System
First 3 Quarters (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Power-Play Goal: 0.50/0.75/1.00
Short-Handed Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Fourth Quarter (GTG/GAG/GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Power-Play Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Short-Handed Goal: 4.00/6.00/8.00
Overtime (GWG)
Even-Strength Goal: 6.00
Power-Play Goal: 3.00
Short-Handed Goal: 12.00