With the NLL Preseason nearing its end, the 2025 Season Opener is hot on the League’s mind. But there has been no busier facility in the early weeks than the Toronto Athletic Centre, as the revitalized Toronto Rock steel themselves for the opening fight against the newly christened Oshawa Firewolves.
After a long season plagued by injuries and setbacks, the new talent and returning stars have been chomping at the bit to put the previous year’s trials to rest and get back to basics.
“We just want to try to be better at the end of every session,” said Toronto head coach Matt Sawyer. “We wanted to hit the ground running here to make sure that we’re ready at the start of the season, to get off to a good start.”
But no one is more excited than the players. The addition of the Rock’s three back-to-back first-round draft picks and new rookie talent has also opened the TRAC floor to the possibilities of a new team identity.
“Training camp, it really goes by so quickly, and there’s not a whole lot of time to build that chemistry,” said returning Rock captain Challen Rogers. “I think just the energy that the guys have brought into this group has been super refreshing and something we’ve definitely needed.”
He arrived and scored three times 🎩🎩🎩 No big deal for Owen Hiltz. Also, how about the hustle to break up a scoring chance for the Rush.#RockCity🎸 pic.twitter.com/3jwfhY3r2F
— Toronto Rock (@TorontoRockLax) November 12, 2025
With so much new and returning talent coming into the TRAC, all eyes are still on the Rock’s first and third overall picks, rookie sensations CJ Kirst and Owen Hiltz. Interestingly, both Hiltz and Kirst began their professional careers with a staggered start, with Hiltz joining the Premier Lacrosse League’s Carolina Chaos partway through the summer season due to visa issues, and Kirst debuting late as a Philadelphia Waterdog following a wrist injury suffered during the NCAA postseason.
“Showing up to the TRAC for the first time was amazing; it was everything you could ever expect playing professional lacrosse,” said CJ Kirst. Kirst was selected first overall in the 2025 NLL Draft, the second American-born player to go first overall in both the NLL and the PLL in the last two years. “Just being there, being in the locker room with everyone, getting to know everyone has been the number one priority before we get on the floor.”
Despite trading the opportunity to match up with their now current teammates in the Major Series or the Western Lacrosse Association for their professional field debuts, the rookies more than wowed in their first preseason appearances against the 2025 runner-ups. Hiltz and Kirst both notched five points each against the Saskatchewan Rush; an impressive first showing against any squad, let alone last year’s number two. But what has continued to impress Toronto’s coaching staff the most has been their freshmen’s attention to detail on all facets of the Rock’s offensive system.
“As an offensive player, your role is to help generate offense for the group out there,” said Sawyer. “Something that we’re emphasizing not only with [Hiltz and Kirst], but with the whole group up, is that there’s lots of ways to contribute to the offense outside of putting the ball in the net or walking away with an assist, and we saw that from both of them.”
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“[Hiltz and Kirst], they’re still new to the group, but both of them have gone through a full NCAA career and played in the PLL– they’re not 21-year-olds coming straight out of Juniors,” Sawyer joked. “The expectation is that they pick this up quickly, and fit seamlessly with the rest of our group.”
As the rooks grow accustomed to their new homes, the team has expressed their need for sturdy chemistry on and off the floor, and to build it fast. For a team that has experienced so many injuries and lineup changes over the past season, it can be easy for the more experienced players to put their heads down and barrel through, leaving the new guys to carve their spots on the team themselves. For the young Toronto-hopefuls, however, there never seems to be a shortage in leadership.
“Those veteran guys that have been here and played for so long have been able to help out me, [Kirst], Isiah [Moran-Weekes], all the new young guys on the offensive end, and really help us get comfortable and play our own style of game in a new system,” said Owen Hiltz.
“There are so many great players, but more importantly, so many great leaders to learn from,” Kirst explained, also mentioning the Rock’s fluid approach to the team hierarchy, allowing even the newest players the opportunity to voice their opinion in the huddle. “Just trusting them and knowing that they’re trying to do whatever it takes to put our best foot forward out there.”
Hiltz also agreed that the abundance of experience present at the TRAC has allowed the fresh drafts, free agents and returning players to seamlessly integrate their individual styles of play into the Toronto system. “As a young guy, it’s your first look at the game, you’re kind of antsy, you’re playing fast, these guys hold you back and tell you you can play a little slower and be more technical on the offensive end, which goes a long way.”
With the fresh blood displaying such a sharp learning curve at camp, it’s no surprise that the familiar faces have taken to them so quickly. As Rogers explained, the new recruits’ presence during drills, and especially during exhibition matches, has allowed the rest of the bench to take a collective breath after the dissatisfying results of the previous season and put their efforts into the finer details of their game.
“You look at a guy like Dan Craig, who’s been asked to do a lot over the past couple years, playing the 200-foot game, being super reliable on the defensive end, cutting transition,” Rogers said. “With the insertion of [Hiltz and Kirst], two athletic guys who can take away transition, who can cause turnovers, who aren’t liabilities on the defensive side of the floor, I think that it’s a compliment, certainly offensively.”
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But the Toronto renaissance is not without its curator. For the 2025-2026 season, Rogers’ major point of emphasis as the returning captain has been ‘to raise the standards,’ pushing the intangible pieces of their game to the foreground and highlighting the hustle that isn’t always reflected in the stat sheet.
“Every guy is fighting for loose balls, the pick assist, especially on the offensive end, block on defense– all those things that aren’t eye-catchers or goals or assists,” said Hiltz. “That’s what we want to emphasize this season.”
Though an overwhelmingly positive player with a clear vision for the future of his team, Rogers admitted that last season’s results have heavily influenced this year’s mantra. “I think everyone came back with hunger, we’re hungry to be better,” he said. “It was unacceptable last year how we performed, especially in some of those close games and just overall, but these young guys, when they came in, they brought a lot to the table.”
Owen Hiltz was in on every Rock goal but one. 4 goals, 5 assists, 9 points no big deal.#RockCity🎸 pic.twitter.com/xmHD7KSByi
— Toronto Rock (@TorontoRockLax) November 20, 2025
Rogers and Sawyer both commented on the compliments Hiltz and Kirst bring to the Toronto offense, both in play and on the bench. Kirst was commended for his undeniable ability to mesh with any and all of his teammates while at Cornell University, and as Rogers explained, he’s brought that same energy to the TRAC with him a hundredfold, supporting his new teammates during every play and every drill. Likewise, Hiltz has quickly cemented himself as a universal fit in the Rock offense, having now notched himself a highlight-worthy play with seems like each of his teammates.
“Everybody’s excited, not only about them, but just about everyone that we have in camp, and how can you not be?” said Sawyer. “It’s something that’s been refreshing and a shot in the arm for the whole organization, so let’s get to work.”
