2026 NLL Player Rankings: Single-Season Records Report
Brett Dobson, Georgia Swarm (Photo: Heather Barry)
After the first several weeks of the 2025-26 National Lacrosse League season are complete, The Lax Mag publishes a weekly NLL Player Ranking, examining the league’s Top 30 players from Week 1 right up until the end of the regular season.
TLM’s Top 30 NLL Player Rankings have nothing to do with reputations, career resumes, success in past seasons, whether we know a player personally, recognizing deserving players who’ve previously been passed over, player popularity, the size of their social media following, whether you slide into their DMs, or who others around the league tell us should get hype.
Our rankings, which only take into consideration only a player’s performance for the current regular season, will be calculated using both our star-rating system after each game, but also a player’s season-long statistical position (based on per-game averages) across the league. Only players who have played two-thirds of their team’s games or more will qualify.
Click here for an even more in-depth breakdown of our scoring system.Earlier this season, we examined which players were seeing the most significant increases and decreases statistically in a variety of offensive and defensive stats versus a season ago.
Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: James Bennett)
With about two-thirds of the season done, this week, we take a closer look at what single-season records are in jeopardy of being rewritten. Spoiler alert: unless you’re name is Brett Dobson, you’re probably not setting any new single-season records in 2026.
Below, see who owns current single-season records, this year’s top producing players in each category (based on averages and their full-season projections), plus our thoughts on whether that record will be busted over the next several weeks.
Goals
Record: Dhane Smith (’16 Buffalo) 72
Leaders: Andrew Kew 3.89, Connor Fields 2.73, Jeff Teat 2.69, Tanner Cook 2.67
Had Kew not had to spend time on the IR and able to maintain his sky-high 3.89 goals/game, we’d be talking a potential record break here, but with four games missed, at best, Kew is projecting to finish with 55 goals at the end of the season. Fields, Teat and Cook have the next highest goal-scoring averages and have not missed a single start, but are on pace for fewer than 50.
Assists
Record: Dhane Smith (’25 Buffalo) 102
Leaders: Keegan Bal 4.69, Dhane Smith 4.50, Ryan Lanchbury 4.45, Jack Hannah 4.30
No one comes close to the 5.67 assists per game you’d need to match Smith’s record set last season – Smith had actually reset this record in four consecutive seasons. Bal’s 4.69 would get him to 84 over 18, which would actually match him with Mark Matthews (’18 Saskatchewan) for the eighth highest single-season A total in league history.
Points
Record: Dhane Smith (’16 Buffalo) 137
Leaders: Andrew Kew 7.11, Keegan Bal 6.92, Jeff Teat 6.92, Dhane Smith 6.58
Again, if Kew played a full 18 and maintained that 7.11, we’d have a record-busting conversation here, because those numbers put him on pace for 128 (again, over 18 GPs). Instead, with those four games missed, Kew is projecting for about 100. For a third straight stat, Smith’s record seems extremely safe.
Jake Withers, Halifax Thunderbirds (Photo: Trevor MacMillan)
Loose Balls
Record: Jake Withers (’24 Halifax) 282
Leaders: Jake Withers 12.33, Zach Currier 12.00, Callum Jones 9.54, Mitch de Snoo 9.50
Withers is on pace to finish a full 60 loose balls behind his record from two seasons ago. Currier is the only other player presently close to averaging the same number of scoops per game as Withers. Again, incredibly unlikely this record gets broken in coming months.
Faceoff Wins
Record: Trevor Baptiste (’19 Philadelphia) 362
Leaders: Trevor Baptiste 19.08, Jake Naso 16.92, Justin Inacio 16.75, Tyrell Hamer-Jackson 16.30
Baptiste’s 19.08 FOWs per game would put him at 343 over 18 GPs, which would actually be the fourth highest total in one season. His anticipated final six battles will be again Jake Naso (SK), Tyrell Hamer-Jackson x2 (LV), Connor Farrell (BUF), Nick Rowlett (TOR), and one of the handful of players Georgia’s has used at the circle this year. His chances of breaking the record seem more reasonable than the other stats we’ve reviewed, but would take a helluva run.
Trevor Baptiste, San Diego Seals (Photo: Kalea Vizmanos)
Caused Turnovers
Record: Zach Currier (’22 Calgary) 62
Leaders: Callum Jones 2.15, Brad Kri 1.75, Nick Chaykowsky 1.75, Michael Grace 1.58
Currier averaged 3.44 caused turnovers back in 2022, so outside of a huge increase in CTO averages, his record is very much safe. More on Georgia rookie Michael Grace’s chances of breaking the rookie caused turnover record in a bit.
Blocked Shots
Record: Paul Dawson (’25 Buffalo) 53
Leaders: Paul Dawson 2.25, Mitch de Snoo 1.88, Robert Hope 1.62, Mike Messenger 1.46
While it’s unlikely he breaks his own record set just last season, Dawson is on pace to finish with 41 blocks this year, which would be the second highest single-season block total in league history. Take that Rule 67.16, ya bitch.
Aaron Bold, Saskatchewan Rush (Photo: GetMyPhoto)
GAA
Record: Aaron Bold (’14 Edmonton) 8.73
Leaders: Brett Dobson 7.02, Frank Scigliano 9.08, Christian Del Bianco 9.41, Dillon Ward 9.70
All season long, we’ve heard, “There is no way Brett Dobson can maintain that GAA.” Well, with two-thirds of the season done for the Swarm and six games to go, Dobson has done just that. Here’s who Georgia and Dobson have left, plus the amount of goals the opposition is averaging (and where they rank) ahead of Week 16: Vancouver (11.2 – T6th), Halifax (9.7 – 13th), Ottawa (11.5 – 4th), San Diego (10.3 – 9th), Rochester x2 (11.8 – 3rd).
SAVE %
Record: Doug Jamieson (’20 New England) .829
Leaders: Brett Dobson .857, Dillon Ward .816, Christian Del Bianco .813, Warren Hill .811
Technically Jamieson holds the record, but posted that .829 over just 11 games due to the 2020 season being cancelled during the pandemic. If you go to the next name in the record books, Nick Rose posted a .820 SV% last year after splitting the year between Toronto and Calgary. Either way, Dobson is higher than both backstops after his first twelve starts.
Matt Vinc, Rochester Knighthawks (Photo: Larry Palumbo)
GSAA
Record: Matt Vinc (’13 Rochester) 34.46
Leaders: Brett Dobson 38.00, Dillon Ward 14.97. Christian Del Bianco 14.07, Warren Hill 10.95
Again, for those unaware of what GSAA measures…
Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) is the metric that measures the difference between the number of goals a goaltender has allowed versus how many they were expected to allow, given the league average save percentage and the number of shots faced. In essence, it quantifies a goalie’s performance relative to the league norm. A positive GSAA indicates that a goaltender has saved more goals than the average goalie would have, given the same number of shots, signalling superior performance.
Back in 2013, Vinc’s GSAA was about 10.00 average saves more than the next closest netminder. Right now, Dobson’s GSAA is 23.03 points higher than Ward at second. Yes, things may change, but there has never been that big a distance between the Top 2 same-season GSAA in NLL history.
Zach Higgins, Philadelphia Wings (Photo: Kate Frese)
Saves
Record: Zach Higgins (’24 Philadelphia) 757
Leaders: Brett Dobson 41.08, Christian Del Bianco 40.77, Doug Jamieson 40.31, Aden Walsh 39.92
Dobson is on pace to finish the year with 740 saves, which isn’t too far off Higgins’ single-season record. With six games left for Dobson (knock on wood), he’d need to make close to three more saves per game to catch Higgins, which could happen. Dobson has only needed to make 30-something saves over the Swarm’s last four, with most of those games against lower-ranked offenses.
Game-Winning Goals
Record: Jeff Shattler (‘12 Calgary) and Tehoka Nanticoke (‘22 Buffalo) 6
Leaders: Zach Manns and Shayne Jackson 4
Manns (Saskatchewan) has fives games to go and Jackson (Georgia) six, and both are on teams who’ve won an above average amount of games. A bit tougher to project game winners, but six seems doable, seven maybe a bit of a stretch.
Rookie Goals
Record: Paul Gait (’91 Detroit) 47
Leaders: CJ Kirst 2.25, Owen Hiltz 1.75, Nolan Byrne 1.67, Pat Kavanagh 1.00, Dalton Young 1.00
Even though Kirst has the ninth best goal-scoring average across the league right now, he’s on pace to finish with 40 goals this year, which is incredibly impressive, but under Gait’s long-standing rookie record. With that said, 40 would be the third highest G total for a rookie ever. Ryan Painter had 45 with Ottawa in 2002. Kirst’s Toronto Rock teammate, Mark Matthews, is actually third on the rookie G list right now, netting 38 with Edmonton back in 2013.
Jeff Teat, New York Riptide (Photo: Scott Cordaro)
Rookie Assists
Record: Jeff Teat (’22 New York) 71
Let’s save everyone some time and just say that not a single rookie will come close to Teat’s 71. The best projected rookie assist finish is 33, which isn’t even half way to Teat.
Rookie Points
Record: Jeff Teat (’22 New York) 108
Again, ain’t no one coming close to Teat.
Reid Bowering, Vancouver Warriors (Photo: Jordan Leigh)
Rookie Loose Balls
Record: Brodie Merrill (’06 Portland) and Reid Bowering (’22 Vancouver) 214
Leaders: Matthew Paolatto 8.31, Sam English 6.70, Michael Grace 5.42, CJ Kirst 5.33
Paoloatto is on pace to finish with about 150 loosies this year, so fairly far from Merrill and Bowering, but still one of the stronger rookie single-season totals ever recorded. Only Zach Currier, Geoff Snider, Trevor Baptiste, Jordan MacIntosh, and obviously Merrill & Bowering had more.
Averaging 14.92 face-off wins per, Paoloatto is projecting to finish the season with 269 dot wins. Only Baptiste (362 in 2019) and Jake Withers (279 in 2018) had more as a rookie.
Rookie Caused Turnovers
Record: Reid Bowering (’22 Vancouver) 34
Leaders: Michael Grace 1.58, CJ Kirst (1.00)
Kinda crazy, but Grace and Kirst are the only rookies averaging at least 1.00 caused turnovers per game. Grace, who earlier this season was on pace to jump Bowering’s record, has been averaging far fewer CTOs over the second half of the season, but still on pace for an impressive 28 this year.
Also, no rookie will come close to Bowering’s record of 26 blocked shots in 2022.
NLL TOP 30: WEEK 16
TW. (LW) Player, Team (Pos.)
1. (1) Brett Dobson, Georgia (G)
2. (2) Jeff Teat, Ottawa (F)
3. (3) Keegan Bal, Vancouver (F)
4. (4) Andrew Kew, Colorado (F)
5. (5) Zach Currier, San Diego (D/F)
6. (7) Dhane Smith, Buffalo (F)
7. (10) Callum Jones, Ottawa (D)
8. (8) Mike Messenger, Saskatchewan (D)
9. (6) Connor Fields, Rochester (F)
10. (9) Christian Del Bianco, Vancouver (G)
11. (11) Jack Hannah, Colorado (F)
12. (12) Ryan Lanchbury, Rochester (F)
13. (15) Ryan Keenan, Saskatchewan (F)
14. (16) Rob Hellyer, Ottawa (F)
15. (17) Dillon Ward, Colorado (G)
16. (13) Mitch Jones, Las Vegas (F)
17. (14) Will Malcom, Colorado (F)
18. (18) Jake Boudreau, Saskatchewan (D)
19. (22) Alex Simmons, Oshawa (F)
20. (20) Jonathan Donville, Las Vegas (F)
21. (23) Tanner Cook, Calgary (F)
22. (19) Nick Weiss, Buffalo (D)
23. (21) Josh Byrne, Buffalo (F)
24. (26) CJ Kirst, Toronto (F)
25. (24) Jordan MacIntosh, Georgia (D)
26. (25) Zach Manns, Saskatchewan (F)
27. (NR) Nick Chaykowsky, Oshawa (D)
28. (NR) Connor Kirst, Las Vegas (D)
29. (28) Curtis Dickson, Vancouver (F)
30. (NR) Tyler Pace, Calgary (F)