The Vancouver Warriors made a blockbuster trade at the National Lacrosse League’s trade deadline on Monday. The Warriors acquired star goaltender Christian Del Bianco from the Calgary Roughnecks in exchange for defenceman Brayden Laity, a first-round pick in the 2025 entry draft, a second-round pick in the 2025 entry draft, and future considerations.
https://twitter.com/VanWarriors/status/1899215104173822019
Del Bianco was drafted 15th overall in the second round of the 2015 NLL entry draft. Since then, he has built quite the resume. He was named to the NLL All-League 2nd Team in 2019, along with winning the NLL championship. However, his best season came in 2023 when Del Bianco became only the second-ever goalie to win the league MVP award. The first was the Buffalo Bandits’ Steve Dietrich in 2006. Del Bianco was also named Goalie of the Year and was selected to the All-League First Team. He also set the single-season record for minutes played by a goaltender (1,080:19).
Christian Del Bianco has established himself as one of the top goalies in the NLL. Del Bianco announced in August that he wouldn’t be re-signing with the Roughnecks and wanted to focus more on his family and life off the floor. In October, Calgary maintained his Franchise Tag under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), meaning that Del Bianco wasn’t able to sign with another team.
The Warriors have fallen to 11th in the NLL standings and have dropped their last two games. The addition of Del Bianco brings an elite netminder to a squad making a playoff push. Del Bianco has a great relationship with head coach and general manager Curt Malawsky from their time together in Calgary. Del Bianco spoke on what it means to be reunited with his friend and former coach:
“It’s awesome, I’m not going to lie, it’s a huge part of why I wanted to be in Vancouver. Being reunited with Curt, just that level of preparation—there’s never a question I’ll have that he won’t have an answer for.”
Officially, official.
Christian Del Bianco signs his deal with the Warriors! pic.twitter.com/7u5Tyy2uId
— Vancouver Warriors (@VanWarriors) March 12, 2025
All Canucks fans remember when they traded for Roberto Luongo in 2006 and what it meant for the franchise. Luongo is arguably the greatest Canucks goaltender ever and was the backbone of their 2011 Stanley Cup Final run. Curt Malawsky compared the acquisition of Del Bianco to the same magnitude as the Canucks acquiring Luongo and what trading for Del Bianco means to the franchise:
“To be truthful, it’s franchise-changing. I think it’s a parallel to (the Canucks acquiring Roberto Luongo). I’ve known Christian for a long time—we were friends first and foremost off the floor. We won championships together at the world championship stage, and we won in the NLL together. I think we’re very like-minded. I say he’s an old-school throwback when it comes to compete level and how he prepares himself, and his battle fortitude is just off the charts.”
Malawsky also praised Del Bianco as a leader and highlighted how beneficial it is to add a player with his pedigree: “I think, you know, we always say good people make good teams, but I don’t find much better (than Del Bianco). He’s a great person off the floor, he’s a dedicated teammate, he’s very selfless, and the first one to give himself up for the guy next to him. We’ve got a couple of guys training really hard (they’re) up at five in the morning. He’s up taking shots, and he puts the work in and studies really hard.”
“I think that toughness between the ears—his mental toughness that it takes to make the next save when the team needs it—has always been there, and he’s won at every level. There’s something to be said about that pedigree.”
It’s safe to say that the organization is excited about their new star goaltender. However, the Warriors still have some work to do to make their playoff push. Christian Del Bianco will make his Warriors debut this Friday in a huge game against the Toronto Rock.