Colorado Mammoth Announce 2025-26 Team Awards
NLL Colorado Mammoth

Colorado Mammoth Announce 2025-26 Team Awards

Published on May 18, 2026 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Colorado Mammoth News Release


DENVER - The Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) today announced this season's Team Awards from the league's 2025-26 campaign.

The Mile High-based organization began its annual tradition of honoring top-performing talent during the NLL's 2014-15 campaign, with said individual awards recognizing players and team personnel for their standout efforts representing the Mammoth franchise.

The John Grant Jr. Award, which honors the team's top-performing offensive player, was first introduced following the 2018-19 season.

The Rookie of the Year Award, which salutes the team's top-performing rookie player, was introduced last year, following the 2024-25 season.

This season's award winners for the 2025-26 NLL campaign include:

2026 Jay Jalbert Award Recipient (Teammate of the Year): Robert Hope

Captaining an NLL squad comes with a long list of responsibilities - A list that defenseman Robert Hope has checked top to bottom since the league's 2021-22 campaign, when he began donning the prized "C" on his burgundy and black threads. And with this season's recognition serving as the sixth time the Peterborough, Ontario native has been named the squad's Teammate of the Year, it's becoming quite clear just how impactful "Hopey" has been and continues to be around the boys. Named as a Top 3 finalist for the league's Teammate-based honors, Hope remained the team's commanding voice throughout the 2025-26 slate. Typically, one of, if not THE, first to arrive, he's still driving his van load of men to the arena each and every weekend. Sure, he could pass those duties on to just about anybody else on the team at this point, but leaders lead. Once he's on-site, he's essentially the team's fourth coach, kickstarting practices and shootarounds as the Mammoth's verbal frontman. Head Coach Pat Coyle, General Manager Brad Self and company deserve credit for welcoming this year's batch of productive rookies. But it was Hope who ensured the boys were in the loop from Day 1 of Training Camp, making sure they felt like they were part of the Mammoth family. Ending the season with a new career-high 160 loose balls while resetting his NLL-best point total at 14 points (1g, 13a), he remained both the team's loose ball and blocked shots leader, ranking fourth across league talent with 28 blocked shots. Few pieces of the longtime Mammoth core remain - However, Hope remains one of the most impactful players in team history.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Tyler Codron, (2016) Dan Coates, (2017) Robert Hope, (2018) Robert Hope, (2019) Robert Hope & Dan Coates, (2020) Tyler Carlson, (2022) Scott Carnegie, (2023) Robert Hope, (2024) Tyler Carlson, (2025) Robert Hope

2026 Dave Stilley Award Recipient (Top Defenseman): Warren Jeffrey

The man they call "Moose" earned his second Defenseman of the Year honors with Colorado, with his first coming in 2023, following another stellar season as one of Colorado's primary stay home defenders. He's big. He's mean. And he doesn't shy away from playing a bit of an "enforcer" role just the same, when called upon. Continuing to ascend the Mammoth all-time penalty minutes rankings with 177 to his name through his first 100 career games played, he sits ranked fifth overall as a bit of a tone-setter. That said, Jeffrey hasn't taken more than a two-minute penalty since December of 2024, so he picks his battles wisely while remaining disciplined when needed. When it comes to locking down top options from opposing units, he's regularly exited head-to-head matchups with NLL stars in the win column, as his athletic 6-3, 228-lb. frame presents quite the mismatch for most parties. He's a nice guy in the locker room but can transform into an absolute savage when stepping on the turf - Exactly what a veteran netminder like Dillon Ward likes to see lurking in front of him more games than not. Drafted in the first round back in 2019 (sixth overall), he's remained one of the most physical and fit defenseman Colorado has dispatched the past five seasons and should remain an instrumental piece of the Mammoth defense for many seasons to come. Tying his career-best eight points (2g, 6a) during the 2025-26 campaign, Jeffrey notched a pair of tallies to set a new personal-best record in said category while adding 66 loose balls, eight caused turnovers and 13 blocked shots in 17 regular season appearances.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Dan Coates, (2016) Robert Hope & Dan Coates, (2017) Greg Downing, (2018) Robert Hope, (2019) Robert Hope, (2020) Robert Hope, (2022) John Lintz, (2023) Warren Jeffrey, (2024) Jordan Gilles, (2025) Jordan Gilles

2026 John Grant Jr. Award (Top Offenseman): Andrew Kew

Andrew Kew may have been one of the most impactful players who swapped teams since the NLL's 2024-25 campaign, as "AK42" came into Colorado and stole the show from the start. Exploding onto the Mammoth scene with seven points (2g, 5a) during his inaugural competition with Colorado, he helped the Mammoth pull off an opening night upset over the Vancouver Warriors while letting it be known he'd be rather involved in the O-zone. Navigate past a few games missed due to injury, with Kew drawing into 12 of the team's 18 regular season showdowns, and it's easy to see why he was nominated as a finalist for the league's Offensive Player of the Year just the same. Having led the Mammoth with a new career-high 45 goals amongst his 84 points (45g, 39a), Kew ended the season tied for the second-most tallies produced across the NLL while ranking third on the squad in overall points. The way he used his stick was practically poetry, as few men around the league made finishing flicks look as smooth as Kew did. While the team understood what they were getting in the player, the Mammoth clubhouse welcomed Kew's leadership just the same. It would've been easy to come into a new locker room and keep the pace steady, but Kew set the tone more nights than not. He quickly became a LOUD HOUSE favorite, partially due to his regular scoring, partially due to his electric celebrations with the crowd. Named to the Capelli Sport All-NLL Second Team following his standout season with the Mammoth, Kew enjoyed a stellar season with Colorado and should be pretty juiced to get Year Two started this fall when the team begins Training Camp in sunny Lakewood, Colorado in late October.

RELATED: Mammoth Forward Andrew Kew Named to Capelli Sport All-NLL Second Team

Past Winners Include: (2019) Eli McLaughlin, (2020) Ryan Lee, (2022) Ryan Lee, (2023) Eli McLaughlin, (2024) Eli McLaughlin, (2025) Ryan Lee

2026 Jamie Hanford Award (Most Inspirational): Thomas Vela

Mammoth forward Thomas Vela may have only measured in at 5-9/185 lbs. during the team's medical examinations back in Training Camp. But if we'd have weighed the kid's heart at any point in the season, it would've been clear "Vels" remains one of the most passionate and hardest-working talents in the National Lacrosse League, let alone amongst the Mammoth roster. The game continues to lend a favorable hand to some of the sport's biggest and most physically-endearing players, top to bottom. But, just like the National Hockey League (NHL), speed, accuracy and discipline continue to climb the ranks of importance, thus paving a way for a scrappy guy like Vela to make waves with the lefties. Providing a spark of energy for teammates like Will Malcom, Andrew Kew and friends, Vela wasn't afraid to mix it up in the trenches while moving bodies and setting picks left and right. Despite playing in just 12 games played, as the Burnaby, B.C. native dealt with an injury during the 2025-26 campaign, Vela finished the season ranked sixth in team scoring with 26 points (9g, 17a) and 33 loose balls. However, it's the forward's 15 penalty minutes accrued during the year, as the talent found himself in a scrap or two defending his teammates and ensuring opposing defensemen understood he was about the farthest thing from an easy out. He set the tone more nights than not, and was both formally and informally recognized by teammates and Colorado's coaching staff just the same. Vela may have a small frame, but he's got one of the largest work ethics in the league, thus this season's Inspirational Player of the Year.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Jeremy Noble, (2016) John Grant Jr., (2017) Cameron Holding, (2018) Joey Cupido, (2019) Steve Fryer, (2020) Chris Wardle, (2022) Tim Edwards, (2023) Ryan Lee, (2024) Tim Edwards, (2025) Ryan Lee

2026 Gary Gait Award (Move Valuable Player): Dillon Ward

What's left to say about a man who's collecting his seventh team-based MVP honors following his twelfth professional campaign? Well, a lot, honestly, as Dillon Ward continues to climb respective team and league rankings on what seems like a weekly basis these days. But Ward didn't earn this year's Gary Gait Award for what he's accomplished in the past. The 35-year-old living legend received said honors this season after guiding the team to a 12-6 record as the team's defensive anchor, personally 11-5 when the year came to an end, which includes a new career-high 11 wins in net. Rocking an .810 save percentage and 10.04 goals-against average mixed in with his 688 saves, Ward officially tied his own mark for the second-most saves in a single NLL season. Both his GAA and save percentage from the season also served as second-best efforts within Ward's career, which essentially earned him a spot as a finalist for the NLL's Goaltender of the Year. But it's the Dillon Ward who shows up each and every weekend to the Mammoth locker room which ultimately won him the team's top honors. He's an MVP in just about every facet of the game while serving as a wisdom-producing mentor for his younger teammates, including backup netminder Nathan Whittom, who's come a long way in learning from Ward since being drafted in the 2024 NLL Entry Draft. Colorado doesn't go on to tie the second-most wins in team history without Ward this year, just like the squad likely isn't an annual contender to make a push without the All-World talent. He won't be here forever, but he's still looking DAMN good between the pipes and remains one of the squad's most prized pillars in franchise history.

Past Winners Include: (2015) Adam Jones, (2016) Callum Crawford, (2017) Dillon Ward, (2018) Dillon Ward, (2019) Eli McLaughlin, (2020) Dillon Ward, (2022) Ryan Lee & Dillon Ward, (2023) Dillon Ward, (2024) Eli McLaughlin, (2025) Dillon Ward

2026 Rookie of the Year Award (Top Rookie): Matthew Paolatto

In various circles surrounding the game of lacrosse, faceoffs have been rumored not to matter. That sentiment has often been produced by teams, or fans of teams, who lack a dominant presence at the faceoff dot more seasons than not. And while Colorado has been able to lean on defenseman Tim Edwards representing the franchise damn well at the dot over the years, it was rookie faceoff specialist Matthew Paolatto who cranked up the team's mid-turf production throughout his first professional campaign. Racking up a 238-for-407 record during his rookie campaign, Paolatto won 58% of his faceoff attempts throughout the 2025-26 season, with each set of statistic ranking fifth-best amongst all NLL talent. Drafting a field product, who had little to no box experience, and receiving a Top 5 faceoff producer during his first circuit around the field doesn't happen very often, yet it remains the truth, as the Mammoth organization welcomed Paolatto to the fold during the third round (44th overall) of the 2025 NLL Entry Draft. And, get this, the kid did FAR MORE than just find success at the circle. Ending his first season with eight points (3g, 5a), seven caused turnovers, one blocked shot and 131 loose balls (which, happened to be the second-highest total amongst all Colorado contributors, trailing only captain Robert Hope), he served as a force in transition sets after playing his fair share of defensive shifts, just the same. Paolatto recorded his career-first tally Jan. 3 during an 18-13 victory over the Rochester Knighthawks, but it was his pair of make it-take it markers during the team's 16-8 win over the 2026 NLL Champion Toronto Rock that truly put him on the map as a Swiss army knife. So, no, this isn't a FOGO. This is an extremely talented rookie who can do a bit of everything. And knowing just how many impactful first-year talents the team rostered this season shows just how valuable Paolatto's presence was throughout the season.

Past Winners Include: (2025) Conner Cook

Mammoth fans can stay tuned to Coloradomammoth.com and Colorado Mammoth social media channels throughout the offseason for the latest news, transactions and beyond!

Check out the Colorado Mammoth Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



National Lacrosse League Stories from May 18, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central