Veltman wraps first off-season as Riptide GM with solid 2020 draft class

The last time I spoke to Jim Veltman, we were just days away from his name and number being raised to the rafters in Scotiabank Arena. At the time, he had already stepped away from lacrosse, focusing on his life and family.

He had said something to end that conversation that has stuck with me.

“I’m still in the game. It’s a part of who I am and part of my makeup,” he said. “I follow the NLL, watch New England and Toronto play, and read all the articles. It’s still a big part of my life. It’s just not the all-consuming part of my life.

“I will never leave this game.”

Fast forward 17 months and Veltman just wrapped up his first draft as the general manager of the New York Riptide.

Following a 1-12 2019-20 campaign cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Riptide executive vice president Rich Lisk opted to make a change at the top, dismissing head coach and general manager Regy Thorpe, the entire coaching staff and lacrosse operations staff. It was a clean slate for an organization barely a year into operation.

With several spots up for grabs, Lisk immediately called Veltman, who he’d previously worked with in New England. Dan Ladouceur — a longtime teammate of Veltman in Toronto — was also brought in as the new head coach of the team.

“I was at my cottage at the time and Rich called me and said we needed to talk. I told him, ‘I don’t have great reception here, let me go to the top of the hill and actually give you a call,’” Veltman said. “So I called him back and he told me his idea and he knows my situation. The reason why I quit New England was I couldn't afford to go every weekend all the time and work full time during the week. It was just too much of a grind for me and my family.

“He said that I could do a lot of things remotely, so we worked it out and I’m pretty excited. I thought (Rich) was calling me about candidates that he had interviewed and in the end, he was kind of asking me if I was interested in applying. So I can come down when I can and make it to Toronto and Buffalo for the near games.

“…When he told me that Laddy (Ladouceur) was getting involved, it became a no-brainer for me.”

Lisk had already started working on making moves during the off-season ahead of bringing the pair on board, acquiring forward Dereck Downs and defender Mack Mitchell in separate deals.

After the new hires were made, the moves came fast and furious for the Riptide. They nabbed veteran defender Mike Manley and Nick Finlay to solidify the back end ahead of free agency. On Aug. 1, New York signed 21-year-old netminder Steven Orleman to a deal. Their biggest deal in team history came two days later.

There were rumours circulating behind the scenes that 2020 MVP finalist Callum Crawford could be moving on from the New England Black Wolves once free agency opened, and those rumblings became truth on Aug. 3, with Crawford signing a two-year deal with New York.

That set the tone for free agency, as Crawford was followed by the acquisition of Leo Stouros from Georgia and the signing of Jon Harnett.

The team was shaping up nicely, they just had one last thing to address in the off-season; the 2020 NLL Draft. Veltman had been through numerous drafts with the Black Wolves, but this would be his first as the general manager.

“Previously, I was more like a contributor. Rich was in charge of the draft and we just added our opinions to whatever was being decided,” Veltman said. “This time, I was the organizer. So I was thinking of how we decided on which position (with our picks). So we looked at our depth chart and started identifying our needs and it was our righty D position. If we were able to land a lefty on offence, that would’ve been a bonus.

“Then, you start ranking the players that are available. We had a scouting staff that I had to put together as well and I trust them because this summer was kind of weird and we didn’t get a chance to scout these kids. The other thing was that it was a virtual draft so it was kind of coming at me from all sides that was different from what I had experienced before. But in the end, you surround yourself with good people and I feel we came up with a good rankings system we really liked where if a player was taken, great. If he got picked before us, then we crossed him off and went to the next guy in those set positions.”

In terms of their opening selection of the draft, it’s about as much of a slam dunk as they could’ve hoped for. With the first overall selection, they nabbed generational talent Jeff Teat, a player that could instantly change their offensive situation overnight for the better.

After that initial pick, the Riptide had a 16-pick gap before they selected again. Despite that, landing the best player on the board more than made up for the wait.

“We’re totally thrilled. Jeff is an all-world player and he’s proved it at the international level, at the national level and at the local level. He’s good,” Veltman said. “I was surprised when he moved up from the junior level to Major Series Lacrosse and just how dominant he was at that level. I guess I thought he was a bit too small and then you realize how shifty he is. He really reminds me of a Josh Sanderson-type where you just really can’t get a good lick in on him.

“He’s kind of wiry and always moving, always thinking and he’s a play ahead of everyone else. So it became a no-brainer for us when it came to ranking and everyone was unanimous. It was like, 'No, we know who’s going No. 1, it’s all the picks after that we have to rank.”

Veltman and the Riptide did the majority of their work in a long second round, holding both the first and last selections. They wasted little time in nabbing defender Mathieu Boissonneault at 17th overall.

He had previous knowledge of Boissonneault after he played long-stick midfielder for Veltman when he coached a club team in field lacrosse.

Boissonneault spent his entire junior career with the Whitby Warriors, serving as one of their leaders out of the back gate for five years while posting 51 points in transition over his final two summers in the OJALL. He’s also been a standout at attack during his time at Canisius. The Whitby, Ontario native is listed at 5-foot-7, 175 pounds, and while that could be looked at as a knock on him, he’s been able to show time and time again that he’s up for the challenges of defending bigger players.

“We have Jim Dasberg on our scouting staff, Laddy had coached Boiss in Whitby for a season and we have Joel Johnson (Whitby’s former head coach). So those three guys right away said, ‘Boiss, he’ll work his buns off to get on this team.’ I had said that I just remembered him being a tyrant all over the field,” Veltman said. “They said he’s still like that and I asked if height was an issue, and they said, ‘It won’t be. He’ll bother people and he’ll take care of people. He more than makes up for his height.’ That was enough for me.

“If he was the same kid I saw in field lacrosse, I was confident, and they assured me that he was more than the same. He’s worked on his transition game, which we really needed to improve. So that’s a big reason why we went with him.”

New York made a move up the board to grab the 25th pick along with Darryl Robertson and Jay Thorimbert for John Wagner. With that pick, they selected 6-foot-6 lefty Ty Thompson, who was considered a first-round pick by many.

They wrapped the round with another two picks, selecting defender Andrew Borgatti and forward Larson Sundown at 29 and 36, respectively.

Despite his lack of Junior A experience, the raw tools that Thompson possessed made him a highly regarded prospect this year. Sundown, on the other hand, had a summer of Senior experience in 2019, making a run to the Mann Cup Final with the Victoria Shamrocks — an experience that will pay dividends once he becomes a staple in the Riptide lineup.

Sundown will be returning for his final year of school, which will be spent as a transfer at RIT. Thompson opted to head straight into the pro ranks, foregoing his final year of eligibility.

Both forwards were expected to be fringe first-rounders who would likely be scooped up early in the second if they fell. At those positions, the value was just too high for the Riptide to pass on either.

“Larson we all had going in the first round, and when he was still there to end the second we said that we had to take this kid — plus, he’s going back to school,” Veltman said. “Ty will be with us this year while Larson will be competing for a spot next year, so we were comfortable taking him there, knowing that we were overloading our lefties this year.

“It was important for us to surround Jeff with big bodies and people that could spring him open and give him time to do what he does. At this level, you’ve got the best defenders in the world and they’re big guys. So we wanted to make sure he had enough time to find the people open or to score.”

While they were able to land some top talents at the beginning of the draft, the pick that Veltman was likely most excited to make came to start the fourth round.

New York wasted no time in submitting their 53rd pick, as they selected Kris Veltman, Jim’s son.

It’s one thing to be named a general manager in the league, but to have it happen in the same year that your son is eligible for the draft, it’s another type of excitement as a father.

“I had sort of told him that if he was around at that 53 spot, we were likely going to pick him, and I talked about it with my staff. I didn’t want to bring it up, so the rest of my staff did,” Veltman said. “I didn’t want to play the father favourite or anything like that but Laddy and Joel Johnson and Jim Dasberg and Rich all said if Kris was there at 53, we want him. I told them that this had to be their decision and not mine. I wanted to separate myself from it and they made the decision to pick him and I was thrilled by that.

“I’m happy for it, obviously. With him being my son, I know what he brings and I know how hard he’s worked and how hard he still has to work. But at the same time, he can play O, he could play in different places. But now, he has to play against men and he has to start playing against that level to understand what he’s up against.”

Kris had played the majority of his summer ball in Junior B with the Markham Ironheads. He was slated to go out and join the juggernaut Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs to play this summer, but the pandemic put a half to those plans.

The other special aspect of the pick is that because of the virtual draft, Jim was also able to announce the pick himself rather than just handing in the draft card.

“It wasn’t easy to make those picks because we had four different feeds going on (in our draft room) and I was connected to the producer in one of my earbuds, so it wasn’t as easy to announce those picks as people thought,” Veltman said. “I almost started welling up when I could pick my son and I was able to call him right away and say, ‘Congratulations, you’re a member of the Riptide. I know all the hard work we put in together, with me as a coach and you as a player.’

“We both had an emotional moment together and that was really special and something that I will never forget.”

Photo: Michelle Quance/West Durham Ironheads

The Riptide finished up their draft with a pair of forwards — Dawson Tait and Ryan Tierney — in the sixth round, giving them eight draftees for the night.

Now, with free agency all but dried up and the draft wrapped, everyone will be looking forward to training camp and the 2020-21 season, assuming that does come about. Everything is still up in the air with the COVID-19 pandemic and teams will have to see if and how they could start getting prepared on the floor for game action.

Regardless of the outcome of this season, the Riptide appear to be in a better spot than when they ended the season. Their offence obviously took a big leap with the addition of Crawford to play alongside 2019 first overall pick Tyson Gibson. Then, you have a game-changer in Teat coming in the near future — not to mention a pair of exciting prospects in Sundown and Thompson who will be fun to watch on the lefty side over the next few years.

The defensive end was built with an eye towards the upcoming expansion to Fort Worth. On top of the three right-handed defenders they got in the draft, New York also has Brent Adams, Adam Perroni and Braiden Davis, who will all be competing in camp for top reps as righties.

The scenario in net is also one that needs to be worked on in camp. With Alex Buque no longer in the fold, Gowah Abrams, Orleman and Nolan Clayton now will try to cement themselves as the go-to guy for the team in 2020-21. That will be the battle to watch with this team, as none of the three have been a bonafide starter in the league to this point.

“Last year for Philadelphia, Zach Higgins stepped up for them and we’re going to give Gowah the opportunity to do that, but also Steven,” Veltman said. “Steven didn’t play much or at all last year (with Georgia) but we believe he’s an up-and-coming goaltender and he’s got a chance to prove himself, and we told the same thing to Nolan.

“…This is a competitive market and a performance-based job. Every game counts in this league and it’s major. You can’t just go 0-3 and all of a sudden expect to make the playoffs — it’s not that easy. So we’re going to let the guys to compete as hard as they can and whichever goalie rises to the top, that’s what happens.”

Looking at the roster, the right pieces have been put in place to make the Riptide a better team heading into their second year of existence. The ultimate goal is obviously to take home a title — especially with Crawford into the backstretch of his great career. However, they also have to have an eye on the future and working to build the young talent they’ve stockpiled so far.

“You have to understand that this is a ticket-driven league and you can’t be selling tickets if you’re 1-12, it just doesn’t work,” Veltman said. “We wanted to load our team up with big names so that people want to come play for us. If you’re just loading your team with rookies, a lot of veterans will say, ‘Do I really want to go and be the oldest guy there? Or do I want to go for a championship.’ So we convinced Callum to do it, and thank goodness we did because his name is bringing other names

“…We feel like we’ve added enough pieces where now players want to come and play for New York. But at the same time, we’ve got to give some of these younger guys time to mature. We’re doing sort of a hybrid. We want to win now, we’d love to make the playoffs and we’re going to go for it. That’s just the reality of this league. Nobody plays for recreational fun.”