Seals Select St. Catharines Ari Steenhuis and Notre Dame's Chris Kavanagh with Top Two Picks in 2025 NLL Draft
NLL San Diego Seals

Seals Select St. Catharines Ari Steenhuis and Notre Dame's Chris Kavanagh with Top Two Picks in 2025 NLL Draft

Published on September 6, 2025 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
San Diego Seals News Release


The San Diego Seals made a big splash at the top of Saturday's 2025 National Lacrosse League Draft. The team selected transition player Ari Steenhuis from St. Catharines of the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League with the 18th and final pick in the first round and followed it up seven picks later by selecting Notre Dame forward Chris Kavanagh with the 25th overall pick in the second round.

The 6-3, 195-pound Steenhuis is just 19 years old. He played in 69 games as a defenseman for St. Catharines over the last three OJLL seasons during which he scored 14 goals and tallied 15 assists.

Kavanagh, the younger brother of Seals forward Pat Kavanagh, helped lead the Fighting Irish to back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2023 and again in 2024. Like his older brother, Chris departed South Bend as one of the most decorated players in school history. Among the accolades, he was a finalist for the 2025 Tewaaraton Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding player in collegiate lacrosse. A two-time All-ACC selection (2023 & 2024), Kavanagh also three times earned All-America recognition (2023-25) from USA Lacrosse Magazine. And statistically, Kavanagh finished his collegiate career second in Notre Dame history in career goals (151), third in career points (242) and sixth in career assists (91). The 5-10, 180 pounder got a taste of professional lacrosse playing for the California Redwoods during the recently completed 2025 PLL season.

The Seals had just five picks in this year's NLL Draft. The 2025 draft class was rounded out with the selections of forward Coulter Mackesy (5-10, 180) from Princeton and defenseman Ben Ramsey (6-0, 200) from Notre Dame in the fourth round, selected 51st and 54th respectively. Ramsey earned All-America honors as a senior and was a three-time All-ACC pick for the Fighting Irish. With their fifth and final pick, the Seals selected defenseman Eddie Qu (5-8, 200) from Yale with the 68th overall choice in the fifth round.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from September 6, 2025


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