The Bandits Make Their Picks: 2024 NLL Entry Draft

The Buffalo Bandits signed three of their picks from the 2024 NLL Entry Draft, pending league approval, the team announced on Thursday.

Lukas Nielsen, who was drafted seventh overall; No. 15 pick Taylor Dooley; and Vance Adams, a sixth-round selection, were each signed to a one-year deal.

Nielsen is a 6-foot forward out of the BC Junior A Lacrosse League, as he played for the New Westminster Salmonbellies. In 2024, he was named MVP of the league after leading the league with 50 goals and finishing third in points with 75 in 18 games. In his 48-game career in the BC Junior A league, he accumulated 134 points.

Dooley, a 6-foot-2 defenseman from Mercer University, totaled 81 points and 46 ground balls in 40 games in his collegiate career at Mercer. He had a career-high 28 points in 15 games, good for fourth-best on the team, during his 2023 season.

Adams, a 5-foot-10 defenseman out of the Ontario Jr. B Lacrosse League, has 37 points in 56 career games, as well as four points in 26 career playoff games. The 21-year-old spent the last four seasons playing with the Akwesasne Thunder and was a member and captain of the 2023 championship team.

The Bandits also signed Chris Cloutier to a one-year deal on Thursday, pending league approval. 

Cloutier has played in Buffalo for the past five seasons after being acquired via trade with the Philadelphia Wings during the 2018-19 season.The 6-foot forward had 68 points last season, good for third-best on the team, and was ranked fourth in goals with 30. 

In 52 career games, he’s managed 81 goals and 101 assists.

Formerly a second-overall pick in the 2018 NLL Entry Draft, he has 70 career games under his belt along with 250 points. He won the NCAA National Championship with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in 2016 and led the team in scoring during the 2017 and 2018 campaigns. Cloutier had 149 points in 50 games.