Joe Resetarits had an inkling he could be on the trade block as the Philadelphia Wings struggled toward their fourth straight season without a playoff appearance.
Resetarits received a call around 2 p.m. on March 9 – an hour before the trade deadline – from Wings general manager Paul Day, who broke the news that Resetarits was headed back home. That call transformed Resetarits’ season and sent him from a team in the bottom third of the standings to a group that’s prepared to contend for a record-breaking fourth consecutive championship.
The Hamburg product has had a storied career and has the most points by an American-born player in NLL history with 931. Despite his individual success, there’s one benchmark missing: an NLL Cup title.
“This is what we play for,” Resetarits said. “Obviously the love of the game is always going to be there, but you play for these moments. You play for having an opportunity throughout the year to get to this point and when it comes to this point, anything can happen, that’s playoffs. … To be a part of a group that has that veteran experience, who has that confidence at this time of the year, it’s awesome to be a part of.
“I’m not getting any younger so these last couple of years, that’s all I think about is being a champion and you share that with a group of guys that no one can ever take from you. That’s something you’re going to share with a bunch of your friends and teammates forever, and that’s more meaningful to me. Everyone in that locker room will say the same thing that this is what we want.”
Resetarits – who was acquired for second-year forward Lukas Nielsen and a 2026 first-round pick – broke down into tears with his wife over the phone when he told her the news.
It was an emotional moment for the 13-year veteran who was on a Wings team that was 2-10 when he was traded to Buffalo. Resetarits went 25-42 during his three-and-a-half-year tenure with the Wings.
“When I got that trade coming here, I felt like I could just breathe again,” he said.
Resetarits said it was a challenging season with Philadelphia, an organization that’s ending operations after being dropped by the Comcast Spectator ownership group. He described it as “demoralizing” as the losses added up and the uncertainty of his future increasing.
Resetarits spent 11 years away from Banditland after playing in Buffalo in 2014 and parts of 2015. He was on four different teams in that span but always wanted to return to the place he calls home.
“Coming back home for my wife, my kids, my family to watch me play,” Resetarits said about what made the trade memorable. “I was born and raised here. The city means the world to me. My entire childhood until I left for college, I was a season ticket holder. I got to watch four championships with the Bandits, I got to watch JT[John Tavares] play. Lots of sweet memories going to Bandits games and obviously I played here early in my career and it’s been 11 years but to make it back here and play for something meaningful means the world to me.”
Resetarits played with the Bandits in the 2014 NLL Playoffs and will get another run with his hometown team 12 years later as Buffalo gears up for their single-elimination, first-round matchup against the Georgia Swarm on Saturday.
It’ll be Resetarits’ first stint in the playoffs since 2022 when he played with the Albany FireWolves, a season that ended with a first-round loss to the Bandits.
“Buffalo Joe” has played in two playoff games since 2019 – another year with a playoff run ended by the Bandits – and hasn’t made it past the first round since 2018 when he lost in the finals with the Rochester Knighthawks.
Resetarits said he’s excited for the opportunity ahead of him as an integral piece of a Bandits offense that will be challenged against Georgia goaltender Brett Dobson.
“When you have the chance to play for something meaningful like this, it makes you want to do everything you can to make this happen,” Resetarits said. “… Being with such a veteran, experienced group, and obviously being a veteran myself, it’s been fun just to come in and do whatever I can to help. In Philly we were a younger team, pretty inexperienced, so it was a year of teaching, and I can’t thank them enough for what they did for me and our family. Those games in Philly, we busted our ass. It’s just unfortunate that we just didn’t get tallies in the win column, but going from being at the bottom to the top, it’s why you stay positive and just keep working. You can’t get down on yourself too much and just kept thinking there’s bigger things ahead and thankfully, I’m in this opportunity I am now.”
The Bandits’ wins on back-to-back days against the then-first place Saskatchewan Rush and Toronto Rock affirmed to general manager Steve Dietrich that they needed to acquire another offensive piece. Resetarits was a name that immediately caught his attention.
Dhane Smith – who was teammates with Resetarits the first time around – also wanted to be reunited with the renowned goal scorer. Resetarits has four 100-point seasons in his NLL career and Smith said he’s helped fill the shoes of players they lost to free agency.
“I was hoping we’d grab him at the deadline, it’s an amazing homecoming,” Smith said. “… It’s going to be one of those things where he’s going to score a lot of goals and a lot of big goals. Losing Chase (Fraser) and (Chris) Cloutier this year hurt us a little bit and I think Rezzy is going to fill that role and score those big goals. He told me earlier, he’s not used to setting that many picks and trying to get other guys open, but for me, I want to get him open as well. I’m so excited to have him here.”
Resetarits said the veteran-led offensive group helped him get comfortable in Tavares’ system. He has 15 points (9+6) in six games since rejoining the Bandits with a pair of hat tricks against Vancouver and Oshawa.
Resetarits was a critical piece of the Bandits’ seven-game winning streak with a goal that ignited Buffalo’s comeback against San Diego and a game-winner with 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to beat Saskatchewan.
The accomplished veteran will look to create more magic in the playoffs where his ability to score clutch goals could propel him back onto a stage he’s sought for years.
“It would mean everything,” Resetarits said of winning a championship. “It’s something I dreamed of as a kid and to be close but so far away it gets tough. To be that close, to having a sniff to get to that opportunity, I’m going to do anything I can and not let this chance slip away from me. That’s where I’m at, it’s like what am I going to do to help in any way I can to help the team get this done and be a part of history.”