The Professional Lacrosse Players' Association recently announced the list of free agents for the coming season, and the Toronto Rock are threatened most.

The Rock, fresh off an 11-3 season which culminated in winning the NLL Champion's Cup, is at risk of losing seven players, including goaltender Bob Watson and defensive standout Pat Coyle. The Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks are the only other teams which could lose more than one player (two apiece).

By league rules, a veteran player who has played for at least three seasons and played or dressed for at least twenty-three scheduled regular season games before the beginning of a season becomes eligible for restricted free agency if he meets one of the following three conditions:

1. The player does not agree to terms with the club owning the right to his services and sits out for one full year;
   
   
2. The club owning the right to the player's services offers compensation lower than that which the player earned in a previous season;
   
   
3. The player is not offered compensation at or above the league-wide per-game average salary for the last season.

A team has seventy-two hours after receiving an offer sheet to match or beat the offer in order to retain the player's rights. No compensation will be awarded to teams that lose free agents.

The following players are eligible for free agency:

Buffalo Bandits:
   Mike Benedict
   Cam Bomberry
Philadelphia Wings:
   Todd Katanchuk
Rochester Knighthawks:
   Kevin Dance
   Pat McCready
Syracuse Smash:
   Charlie Lockwood
Toronto Rock:
   Terry Bullen
   Pat Coyle
   Chris Gill
   Russ Heard
   Dan Stroup
   Rodd Squire
   Bob Watson (goaltender)

New York and Pittsburgh do not have any free agency-eligible players.

The PLPA web site contributed to this article.