Ten unrestricted free agents-to-be have been designated as franchise players, according to a comparison of free agency lists released by the National Lacrosse League and its players association.

Among the ten are Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares, Toronto Rock forward Jim Veltman, and Rochester Knighthawks goaltender Pat O'Toole.

On Monday, NLL released a list of players who had become restricted or unrestricted free agents, but omitted mention of players who had been tagged as franchise players by their 2005 teams.

The franchise player designation terminates the player's free agency but guarantees him the maximum salary allowed by league rules, plus an additional fifteen percent.

Today, the Professional Lacrosse Players Association released a list of all unrestricted free agents.

A comparison of the two lists yielded fourteen players who were not on NLL's roster, including three who have re-signed with the Buffalo Bandits (Steve Dietrich, Chris Langdale, and Dan Teat) and one who was released in June (San Jose's Curt Malawsky).

In addition to Tavares, Veltman, and O'Toole, franchise player designations were given to Rob Blasdell (Arizona), Dan Stroup (Colorado), Dallas Eliuk (Philadelphia), Del Halladay (Portland), Mike Hasen (Rochester), Derek Malawsky (San Jose), Bob Watson (Toronto).

Stroup and Eliuk were previously named as franchise players by their respective teams, and Hasen and O'Toole were formally tagged today.

Teams were able to tag up to two potential unrestricted free agents, six-year veterans who will be 32 years old by the end of the 2005 calendar year.

Rochester and Toronto used both of their tags; Calgary, Edmonton, and Minnesota used none.