Christian Del Bianco Traded to Vancouver at Deadline

In the first of a string of headlining trades just before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, the Calgary Roughnecks traded goaltender Christian Del Bianco and future considerations to the Vancouver Warriors in exchange for defender Brayden Laity, Vancouver’s first-round selection in the 2025 Entry Draft, their second-round selection in the 2025 Entry Draft, their first-round selection in the 2026 Entry Draft and future considerations.

Calgary’s decision to trade Del Bianco comes after his move to the Hold Out List in November after announcing his intention to focus more on family and his off-the-floor endeavors. From October on, Del Bianco was a free agent, but Calgary maintained his Franchise Tag under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), meaning he wasn’t able to sign anywhere else.

Del Bianco has spent his entire NLL career as a Roughneck, climbing the ladder from his single-game rookie season to the starting roster, winning a League Championship and earning his slot on the NLL All-League 2nd Team in 2019. He was also named to the All-League 1st Team in 2023 and was named the 2023 Goalie of the Year as well as MVP, making him only the second goalie to win MVP after the Buffalo Bandits’ Steve Dietrich in 2006, and only the third non-forward to win the award.

 

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The Warriors, having fallen to 11th place in overall League standings following their loss to the San Diego Seals in Week 15, need a new spark on the defensive end to re-energize themselves during the March to May. Tacking on Del Bianco’s championship pedigree could prevent another 12th place finish like last season.

Del Bianco ended the 2023-24 season in good standing, finishing with nearly 1100 minutes played, 192 goals against and 746 saves (second in the League behind Philadelphia’s Zach Higgins’ 213 goals against and 759 saves), and a solid 80% save percentage. For comparison, now in Week 16 with 12 games played, current Vancouver goalkeeper Aden Walsh sits eighth overall in League stats with 116 goals against and 428 saves.

Since his move to free agency, Del Bianco had been keeping his skills sharp in the Arena Lacrosse League West as the goaltender for Grizzles LC, an experience he described to Inside Lacrosse as a refreshing change of pace: “I think (after) a lot of years, you start to take it for granted, especially when you are paid to play. You come out here and guys are out here by choice to have fun. Guys are soaking shots, it is a refreshing take on lacrosse for me, so it is definitely contagious.”

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The Coquitlam product was originally drafted 15th overall in the 2015 Entry Draft, a selection he later confided as being much earlier than he expected.

“In 2015 I was in my backyard following the draft on Twitter,” Del Bianco explained in a My Draft Day excerpt published by the Roughnecks in 2020. “It was a surprise; I thought I was going two or three picks later to Vancouver.”

Del Bianco and Vancouver head coach Curt Malawsky, also a Coquitlam native, crossed paths many times in the British Columbia Jr. A Lacrosse League before the NLL. Malawsky was the Coquitlam Adanacs Jr. A coach, where he led the Adanacs to the BCJALL league title and won the Minto Cup in 2010. Though he had already relinquished the position by the time Del Bianco was on the roster, Malawsky still contributed to the junior program during that time. Malawsky also finished his NLL career as a Roughneck, ending with a League Championship in 2009.

In other deadline deals, the Warriors also traded rookie Johnathan Peshko and their fourth-round selection in the 2026 Entry Draft to the Ottawa Black Bears in exchange for transition specialist Kiel Matisz and their first and second-round picks in the 2026 Entry Draft. Matisz was then traded to the Buffalo Bandits alongside a fourth-round selection in the 2028 Entry Draft, in exchange for Buffalo’s second-round pick in the 2028 Entry Draft.