New England Black Wolves with their first pick of the 2018 NLL draft selects Jackson Nishimura – National Lacrosse League

Philadelphia — The New England Black Wolves selected Jackson Nishimura, a 6-foot-1 defender and transition player, with the 26th overall pick in the National Lacrosse League entry draft on Tuesday night.

The Black Wolves’ first pick of the night didn’t come until the final pick of the second round, but were thrilled to get Nishimura, who had nine goals and eight assists last sumer with the Toronto Beaches of the Ontario Junior A League and will provide speed and depth.

“He has a tremendous upside,” Black Wolves general manager Rich Lisk said in a release. “He reminds me of a young Colton Watkinson. We did not think we could get him where we did. It worked out perfectly.”

That pick highlighted the night for New England, which also had selections at 31, 59 and 70, and managed to add a pick at 34 in a trade with Georgia.

The Black Wolves added goalie Ethan Woods with the 31st overall pick, then traded with the Georgia Swarm to acquire the 34th pick, which it used to select athletic defender Tal Bruno out of John’s Hopkins. Woods spent the past four seasons playing Junior A for Barrie Lakeshore, collecting 551 saves with a 9.51 goals-against average this past season.

“The people we wanted fell to where we wanted them,” coach Glenn Clark said. “Your expectations are realistic for what spots you’re in. You have a group of guys you hope are available. To be honest, the guys we had ranked highest were the guys we got.”

New England rounded out the draft by selecting lefty forward Dereck Downs with the 59th overall pick and right-handed Matt Lee at 70. Downs won a Minto Cup with Coquitlam in 2016, and he had 32 points with 20 goals as a member of the Brampton Excelsiors during the 2018 MSL season. Lee was selected out of Wheeling Jesuit University.

“Woods and Bruno we had tagged before the draft,” Lisk said. “We knew we were looking for a goalie. We really wanted Woods and were excited to get him. We saw Bruno at the Philadelphia Combine and knew he would not last long. We were happy to be able to move up and grab him.

“Downs was a player who stood out to us at the Toronto Combine. “He is a pure shooter who can put the ball in the net and is going to help our left side. Lee was another guy we identified at the Toronto Combine. He is going to be a great addition to the right side.”

Source: The Day – Black Wolves add depth, speed in 2018 NLL draft – News from southeastern Connecticut