Buffalo Bandits forward Josh Byrne has been named the NLL’s Offensive Player of the Year, the league announced Thursday. He is the first-ever recipient of the award, which the league introduced this season.
Byrne tallied a league-leading 135 points (53+82) in 18 games this season, setting new single-season career highs in all three categories. Byrne also set a new single-season career high in loose-ball recoveries (75) and tied his previous career high in games played (18). He ranked second in assists, third in goals and tied for third in power-play assists (22) among all NLL players in 2023-24.
In his sixth season with the Bandits, Byrne reached the 50-goal mark for the first time in his career.
The New Westminster, British Columbia native recorded at least four points in every regular-season game for the Bandits and registered seven or more points in 15 of the team’s 18 games. He scored the game-winning goal for the Bandits on three occasions.
“Josh is just an all-time leader,” teammate Chase Fraser said. “He does a lot of things for the guys. Communicating with us throughout the week, and just what he does when he comes into games and takes over games. It’s awesome to be able to be on the opposite side of the floor as him. He holds us to as high of a standard as he holds himself, so it’s contagious and everybody just builds off of it.”
Byrne has registered 487 points (201+286) and 372 loose-ball recoveries in 89 career regular-season games. He ranks fourth in points (487), fourth in assists (286) and fifth in goals (201) all-time in Bandits franchise history in the regular season. In 17 career postseason games, Byrne has totaled 98 points (40+58) and 73 loose-ball recoveries. Entering the NLL Finals, Byrne ranks third in playoff assists (58), fourth in playoff goals (40) and fourth in playoff points (98) all-time in franchise history.
Byrne has also been nominated for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. The winner will be announced Friday ahead of Game 1 of the NLL Finals.