Brooklin and Six Nations Announce Blockbuster Trade

By Sam Laskaris

The Brooklin Lacrosse Club has completed a blockbuster trade with their Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) rivals, the Six Nations Chiefs.

And though the most prominent names in the transaction are heading to the Chiefs, Brooklin general manager Brad MacArthur is content with the deal, arguably the biggest one in league history.

That’s because his organization unloaded the rights to three individuals who were unlikely to suit up for the Brooklin squad in the forseeable future. And in return Brooklin acquired an athlete, Dylan Riley, who is keen to play in the Durham Region, not only when the opportunity presents itself with the Brooklin Lacrosse Club but also with its affiliate Senior B team, the Oshawa-based Merchants Lacrosse Club, members of the Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL). Brooklin also picked up as many as a whopping seven draft picks in the exchange.

Brooklin traded the playing rights of brothers Lyle and Miles Thompson as well as Kevin Brownell to the Chiefs.

Though Brooklin owned the rights the Thompson brothers, who also star for the Georgia Swarm of the National Lacrosse League (NLL), neither one had never played a game for the franchise. Brownell, a key figure of the NLL’s Buffalo Bandits, had spent four seasons playing for Brooklin. But he has not dressed up for the club since the 2016 campaign.
“The longer they don't play for us the more apparent it becomes that they never will,” MacArthur said of the three individuals whose rights he traded away. "We wish Kevin (Brownell) all the best. When he went into chiropractic school, it became hard for him to commit to Brooklin and he's not a 'half-in' type guy. He's now graduated and is starting his practice in the Hamilton area. This gives him a chance to keep playing in the summer in a viable situation."

MacArthur said he was willing to pull the trigger on the deal because of the quality of picks Brooklin is picking up.

That includes the Chiefs’ first-round picks in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 MSL Entry Drafts.

“The three first-round picks were critical for us,” MacArthur said. “It wouldn’t have happened any other way.”
Brooklin also scooped up Six Nations’ third-round draft pick (a selection the Chiefs had previously acquired in a deal with the Cobourg Kodiaks) in the 2020 draft, as well as second and third-round picks in the 2022 draft. Brooklin also received a conditional second-round pick in 2023. They will get that selection only if Miles Thompson plays for the Chiefs either this season or in 2020.

Riley, a 22-year-old who lives in Windsor, is pleased about the prospect of playing for Brooklin and/or the Merchants. “I’m pretty excited about it,” he said of the trade. “I know how successful the program has been in the past.”

In fact, Riley has already played a game for the Merchants. He made his OSL debut this past Friday, leading the Merchants to a 15-5 triumph over the visiting Kitchener Waterloo Velocity, in a contest staged at Children’s Arena in Oshawa.

Riley had an immediate impact with the Merchants in that match, scoring six goals and adding an assist.

Though he will continue to live in Windsor, Riley has several family members throughout the GTA. He will be able to spend some evenings with them after his local games with Merchants or with the Brooklin Lacrosse Club.

“Ultimately we just want him to be playing a lot of lacrosse,” MacArthur said of Riley, who had spent five seasons toiling with his hometown Windsor Clippers, a Junior B squad, before playing for the British Columbia-based Langley Thunder, members of the Western Lacrosse Association, in 2018. MacArthur believes that season of Senior A ball with the Thunder will help Riley bring some leadership to a young Merchants’ side this season.

“He does have that high-level experience,” he said. “It’s nice to have a bit of a veteran presence even though Dylan is young himself.”