Under the stands in the back hallways of TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, Josh Byrne reflected candidly on what was a season changing weekend for the Buffalo Bandits.
“It’s no secret that if we didn’t go on a run this weekend, we’re probably getting dismantled,” Byrne said.
The Bandits entered that weekend on the outside of the NLL playoff picture at 4-6, staring down back-to-back games against the first-place Saskatchewan Rush and Toronto Rock. Byrne and the Bandits understood the looming trade deadline – which passed on Monday – could see the end of a veteran core if the losing ways continued.
Instead, the Bandits rattled off consecutive wins with an 11-10 overtime victory over Saskatchewan and a 14-9 road win over Toronto to improve to 6-6 and return to the playoff race. The wins showed Bandits general manager Steve Dietrich that their winning formula still worked and encouraged him to get Joe Resetarits and Tyler Hendrycks ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.
“Without a doubt it changed it,” Dietrich said. “Josh [Bryne] is right, if we would have lost those two games, that would’ve put us at 4-8, basically making us have to go almost undefeated down the stretch to have a sniff to get in. As an ageing team, would have been probably looking to find homes for some of our older guys to give them a chance to compete in the playoffs maybe one last time. Those two wins showed that we still have – on top of the character in our room – that championship mentality that we can compete with anybody when we want to play with the passion and the desire that we played with last those two games.
“It proved to me that there’s still something there, that this group deserves an opportunity. … If we can help augment this group to give us the best possible chance that this core deserved another opportunity, that’s what we went out and did. By bringing in Joe and Tyler, we’ve helped them for sure.”
Dietrich describe the league’s trade landscape as a “seller’s market” and said he was in dialog with a myriad of different teams to try and swing deals but operated within two specific needs: a left-handed forward with athleticism and “a proven goal scorer.”
The Bandits started their trade deadline by addressing the former and acquired the 24-year-old Hendrycks from the Calgary Roughnecks for a 2026 sixth-round pick. The 2022 second-round selection began his NLL career with the Toronto Rock before being dealt to Calgary midway through last season.
Hendrycks played defense with the Roughnecks but on the offensive end with the Rock, a position he’ll return to with the Bandits. Hendrycks will help supplement the left side of the offense after the Bandits released veteran Ryan Benesch on Tuesday and provides a sizeable scoring option for head coach John Tavares.
“We definitely see him as an offensive lefty, there’s no doubt,” Dietrich said. “When he played for Toronto against us, he was a matchup nightmare because of his size and his speed, and you had to pay attention to him. I think our left side with MacKay and at that point Benny [Ryan Benesch] and Clay [Scanlan], we just didn’t have a ton of size there. Tyler’s a big kid, 6-foot-3 and about 220 pounds, adds size and can generate his own shot. We’re excited about him. … It makes JT be a little more comfortable whether he wants to roll up four lefties and/or wants to roll up four righties on any particular night.”
The Bandits resolved the latter of their trade targets in the waning minutes of the deadline and acquired Resetarits from the Philadelphia Wings in exchange for Lukas Nielsen and a 2026 second-round pick.
The right-handed Resetarits is back for his second stint in Banditland after playing parts of two seasons in Buffalo in 2014 and 2015. The 36-year-old Hamburg, New York native was second on the Wings with 45 points (15 G, 30 A) but finished tied for third in the NLL with 122 points last season.
The Bandits now have each of the top three point producers from 2024-25 on the offense with Dhane Smith, Byrne and Resetarits, who has four 100-point seasons in his 13-year career.
Resetarits will reunite with former Bandits teammates Smith, Tavares, Nick Weiss and Steve Priolo. He also played with Matt Vinc and Paul Dawson with the Rochester Knighthawks and alongside Mitch de Snoo and Mike McCannell with the Wings. It’s those preexisitng relationships that Dietrich said will help elevate the group.
“He can play without the ball, he can pick and roll, he can do a lot of the things we were looking for on top of having a great shot and he’s got a great feel for the game,” Dietrich said. “We thought that he could fit well with our guys. Dhane is an unbelievable ball distributor, Tehoka [Nanticoke] bangs, Bucky [Kyle Buchanan] is a great loose ball guy and we just thought Joe would fit in well with that group. Joe has no ego, he just wants to be apart of something so bringing in a guy that we know can mesh and fit in well with our guys was important.
“Having Joe in Buffalo in the past, we know the character of the kid, we know what kind of person he is, so that helped. Just being able to add him to that group is exciting. We don’t need Joe to be anything more than what he is. We’re not asking him to come in and score 50 goals for us. We’re not asking him to come in and be the focal point of an offense. We just want him to come in and mesh well and fit in which is what we’re expecting and what we’re excited about.”
It’ll be a new look Bandits offense that featured six offensive players in both the games against the Rush and Rock. That number was even further challenged when Ian MacKay – who remains on injured reserve – missed the game against Toronto.
Improving the offensive makeup came at a cost for Dietrich ,who had to pay the difficult price of dishing out draft picks. The future still looks bright in Banditland despite distributing a 2026 first-round pick for de Snoo and a 2026 second-round selection for Resetarits.
The Bandits picked up a 2026 third-round pick from the Rock for goaltender Steve Orleman earlier this season and still have two 2026 first-round picks – their own and a compensatory pick from losing Chase Frasier to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs in free agency – and a 2026 second-round choice.
Having the sufficient draft capital was pivotal for Dietrich’s ability to improve the current Bandits squad that’s balance young talent like Carter Coffey – who made his NLL debut against Toronto – and Coltrane Tyson with proven veteran commodities.
“I hate moving draft picks, because once you get to the draft, the more valuable they are and the more opportunities you get for young players,” Dietrich said. “Carter Coffey is a kid that we’re real high on and we took in the third round last year. We never want to be bare in any round so getting the extra picks is always nice. But again, this group deserves another opportunity. To move the picks that we did was well worth it for us. We still have extra picks in those rounds that were not there anymore. Pulling draft picks out of me is tough to do, but to be able to get Joe where we did and Tyler for what we did, it was a real happy day for us.”