Following the announcement of a new NLL collective bargaining agreement on Oct. 20, it was a fast and furious offseason for the Buffalo Bandits.
The Bandits return a myriad of players from their championship nucleus, headlined by former MVPs Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne. They also return captain and defenseman Steve Priolo, reigning NLL Finals MVP Ian MacKay, and 8-time NLL Goaltender of the Year Matt Vinc, who re-signed on a one-year deal.
“What excites me is Matt Vinc between the pipes gives us a great opportunity to win every night,” Smith said. “Super excited to see a lot of familiar faces and bring our core group back. Obviously, it’s a business and guys you lose every year, but you bring in these new guys, and there’s a lot of great young talent here, so I’m excited to see what they got.”
The Bandits enter 2025-26 seeking to become the first team in league history to win four consecutive NLL Cups. They became the second team to win three straight titles in May, when they defeated the Saskatchewan Rush.
“It’s not going to get any easier,” Smith said. “I know everybody’s talking about dynasties or four-peats or whatever it may be, and it’s gonna be a huge challenge. Every year it’s been that much harder, and this year is gonna be even bigger.”
Training camp kicked off on Nov. 1 in Brampton, Ontario, and the group was back on the floor at KeyBank Center on Nov. 15 for media day.
Here’s everything you need to know before the season kicks off with Banner Raising Night at KeyBank Center on Nov. 29 against the Georgia Swarm.
Offseason changes
The Bandits lost two pieces from their championship roster in forwards Chase Fraser and Chris Cloutier, both of whom signed with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.
Fraser and Cloutier were fifth and sixth, respectively, on the team in scoring last season. Fraser posted 26 goals and 24 assists while Cloutier recorded 17 goals and 20 assists.
The pair accounted for 17.7 percent of the Bandits 242 total goals from last year, and the Bandits lost 14.1 percent of its total point production with Fraser and Cloutier taking their talents out west.
It won’t be long before both Fraser and Cloutier are back in Buffalo as the Bandits face off against the Desert Dogs at KeyBank Center on Jan. 3.
Another subtraction to the Bandits roster came on Thursday as veteran defenseman Justin Martin announced his retirement from the NLL following an 8-year career in Buffalo.
More on Martin’s retirement can be found here.
The newcomers
Tasked with replacing multiple key cogs from their championship DNA, the Bandits brought in two players with previous ties to the organization.
Forward Ryan Benesch signed a 1-year contract to return to the Bandits on Oct. 28 and forward Mike Triolo was acquired from Saskatchewan for a 2027 third-round pick on Oct. 24.
Benesch spent four seasons in Buffalo from 2014 to 2017, highlighted by a career-high 55 goals in 2015. Benesch is entering year 19 of his NLL career, where he’s been one of the league’s most successful players. He ranks fourth all-time with 580 goals and fifth all-time in points with 1,365.
Benesch strongly considered retirement but felt unsatisfied with his season for San Diego, which ended with a 5-4 loss to Buffalo in the opening round of the playoffs. Following a phone call with Bandits general manager Steve “Chugger” Dietrich, the reunion was set in motion.
“It’s amazing,” Benesch said about being back in Buffalo. “Honestly, if Chugger didn’t call me, I probably wouldn’t have played.”
Benesch said he wanted to be back in Buffalo to seek something he’s never attained in his storied NLL career: a championship. He brings a blend of veteran leadership and goal scoring to a team that lost Fraser and Cloutier.
“Benny’s just a proven vet, he’s a future Hall of Famer,” MacKay said. “… He’s done it all but win a championship. Coming back to Buffalo and the culture we’ve built here since he’s been gone, he fits right into what we’re doing.”
Buffalo’s lone offseason trade brought Triolo – a 2015 Bandits draft pick – back to Banditland after two seasons with the Rush. Triolo said his wife played the song “Right Back Where We Started From” at their house in celebration following the trade.
Triolo recorded a career-high 37 points in 2024 and followed that up with 14 goals and 15 assists last season. The 6-foot-8 forward brings a level of physicality to the Bandits offense. A key facilitator, Triolo has shown the ability to create passing lanes and use his size to create opportunities. Now he gets to do it alongside some of the league’s best.
“There’s unbelievable pressure as a new person coming into a clearly winning organization that knows everything they need to do to win,” Triolo said. “And honestly, it’s the pressure of just trying to find my piece in it. I’m not trying to do too much or too little but just finding what I can do and help the team in that way.”
Update (Nov. 26, 3 p.m.) – The Bandits made another offseason splash, re-acquiring defenseman Mitch de Snoo from Philadelphia in exchange for a conditional 1st-round pick in 2026 and a conditional 2nd-round pick in 2028. Previously a Bandit from 2015 to 2020, de Snoo was NLL Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22 and 206 loose-ball recoveries last season.
Be there Saturday as we raise another banner to the rafters at @KeyBankCtr! 🤩
All fans in attendance will receive a replica mini banner » https://t.co/1IrJDrLM02 pic.twitter.com/EPy5C6BbmE
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) November 26, 2025
An opportunity to step up
Helping replace Fraser can come from within as well.
Forwards Clay Scanlan and Lukas Nielsen – a Bandits 2024 first-round selection – both look to take a larger step after their rookie seasons in 2024-25.
Scanlan shined in Game 2 of the NLL Finals with two goals against Saskatchewan and Nielsen logged two points in two games during his first year with the Bandits.
Tehoka Nanticoke – who recorded 33 points last season and inked a 3-year contract with Buffalo on Nov. 4 – could be another prominent offensive option with an expanded role.
“Just telling them that we don’t want them to be Chase Fraser; we don’t want them to be Chris Cloutier,” Smith said. “We want them to be themselves and be the best they can possibly be. Obviously, learn from those guys or new guys, and play as hard as you can. Nobody’s going to fault you for playing hard, and I’m excited to see what they got at the end of the day. We just want them to play as hard as they possibly can and contribute to the best of their ability. And it doesn’t really matter if they score goals. We have a lot of guys that can score goals, so it’s kind of doing the little things.”