NLL Buffalo Bandits

Byrne, Smith, MacKay Named 2024 NLL Awards Finalists

Published on May 8, 2024 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Buffalo Bandits News Release


Buffalo Bandits forwards Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith and transition player Ian MacKay have been named finalists for the NLL's end-of-season awards, the league announced Wednesday.

Byrne and Smith have each been named finalists for both the Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year awards while MacKay has been nominated for Transition Player of the Year for the first time in his career.

Tickets for NLL Finals Game 2 in Banditland

Byrne enjoyed a career year in 2023-24, tallying a league-best 135 points (53+82) in 18 games to set new single-season career highs in goals, assists, and points. The 30-year-old came just three points shy of breaking the NLL's single-season record, which Smith set in 2016 with 137 points.

Bandits fans voted Byrne as the team's Most Valuable Player ahead of Buffalo's regular-season home finale after he averaged over seven points a game in the first 16 contests of the season. He has totaled eight goals and nine assists in three postseason games, tied for second in the NLL with Albany's Tye Kurtz.

"Josh is just an all-time leader," forward Chase Fraser said. "He does a lot of things for the guys. Communicating with us throughout the week, and just what he does when he comes into games and takes over games. It's awesome to be able to be on the opposite side of the floor as him. He holds us to as high of a standard as he holds himself, so it's contagious and everybody just builds off of it."

Smith has been named the league's MVP two times in his career and was most recently the runner-up during the 2022-23 season. The Bandits' alternate captain ranked second in the NLL with 134 points in 2023-24 while his 101 assists broke the all-time single-season record he set last season. He became the first player in league history to surpass the 100-assist mark with 10 assists in the Bandits' season finale.

"At the end of the day, you're not known for breaking records, you're known to win championships and that's what I'm trying to do," Smith told the ESPN broadcast after the game.

Smith has compiled 16 points (3+13) in three games in the 2024 NLL Playoffs, leading all players with 13 assists.

Byrne and Smith will go up against Toronto's Nick Rose for MVP while New York's Jeff Teat is the other nominee for Offensive Player of the Year.

MacKay has continued to play a key role in the Bandits' transition game but has also demonstrated his versatility and ability to play any position throughout the campaign. He recorded 29 points (12+17), 19 caused turnovers, and 12 blocks and filled in on faceoffs until specialist Connor Farrell arrived in Buffalo in March.

MacKay led the Bandits with 160 loose-ball recoveries during the regular season, which ranked eighth in the league. He currently has seven points (2+5) and 13 loose-ball recoveries through three postseason games.

"Mickey is a one-of-a-kind player," Byrne said. "His ability to step in and play on both sides of the ball and be great for both our offense and defense is something that's very rare to find in the league. He's a great teammate and is someone who will do anything it takes for the team to succeed."

Calgary's Shane Simpson and Halifax's Jake Withers have also been nominated for Transition Player of the Year.

The winners of each end-of-season award will be announced next week ahead of Game 1 of the NLL Finals.

The League added Offensive Player of the Year to the lineup of awards this year to align with the other position-based honors: Defensive Player of the Year, Transition Player of the Year, and Goaltender of the Year.

Once nominations were finalized, each NLL team cast three ballots for each award and select media were eligible to vote for all awards except Teammate of the Year and Executive of the Year.

Voting members selected their top five choices for each award among all nominated persons. Points were distributed for each first through fifth place vote as follows:

1st Place - 10 points

2nd Place - 7 points

3rd Place - 5 points

4th Place - 3 points

5th Place - 1 point

The person that accumulated the most points will be announced as the winner, while the top three in each category are designated as the award finalists. The All-NLL and All-Rookie teams are determined by the top vote getters in each position-based award. The All-Rookie team will be made up of six rookies, regardless of position. The All-NLL First Team and All-NLL Second Team will be made up of six individuals - two forwards, one transition player, two defenseman, and one goaltender - per team.

The Bandits will take on the Albany FireWolves in a best-of-three series for the NLL Cup, beginning on Friday, May 17 at 7 p.m. at MVP Arena. Buffalo will return home for Game 2 in Banditland on Saturday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m.

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