MSL 
Josh Byrne
Josh Byrne
Built for the Big Moment — From New Westminster to the Top of the Lacrosse World
Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
Hometown: New Westminster, British Columbia
MSL Team: Six Nations Chiefs
NLL Team: Buffalo Bandits
Something Can Happen at Any Moment
There are players who make you watch the ball.
Josh Byrne makes you watch him.
Because even when it appears there's nothing there, something can happen.
A defender can be in perfect position.
The goaltender can be set.
The angle can look impossible.
And somehow Byrne finds a way to turn it into a scoring opportunity.
The athleticism gets your attention immediately. The size, hands and creativity are obvious.
But those qualities alone don't explain Josh Byrne.
What separates him is his ability to produce when the games become bigger.
NLL playoffs.
Championship games
.
Mann Cups.
Put Josh Byrne on a big stage and he seems perfectly comfortable there.
New Westminster Roots
Byrne grew up in New Westminster, British Columbia, one of Canada's great lacrosse communities.
He attended New Westminster Secondary and played Junior A for the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
Even Byrne wasn't initially certain how he'd measure up when he reached the B.C. Junior A level.
It didn't take long to find out.
As a rookie, he exploded for 56 goals and 56 assists for 112 points in 20 games, earning BCJLL Rookie of the Year honours.
Later, he produced 41 goals and 38 assists in only 12 games and was named the league's Most Valuable Player.
The confidence was growing.
So was the attention.
But Byrne's route to NCAA Division I lacrosse wouldn't be direct.
Nassau Community College
Before Hofstra came Nassau Community College.
And Byrne made his time there count.
In 2015, he scored an astonishing:
76 goals
30 assists
106 points
in only 12 games.
He was named the NJCAA Attackman of the Year and earned NJCAA All-American honours.
It was the performance of a player who had clearly outgrown that level.
Hofstra was waiting.
Hofstra University
Byrne transferred to Hofstra University and immediately demonstrated that his production wasn't going to disappear against NCAA Division I competition.
In his very first game with the Pride, Byrne faced fifth-ranked North Carolina.
Four goals.
Two assists.
Six points.
Hofstra won 10-5.
That was quite an introduction.
As a junior in 2016, Byrne led Hofstra with 30 goals, 15 assists and 45 points and earned First Team All-CAA honours.
Then came his senior season.
Byrne was named a team captain and produced:
41 goals
25 assists
66 points
in 14 games.
He led the CAA in all three categories.
The honours followed:
CAA Player of the Year
First Team All-CAA
USILA Third Team All-American
Byrne had taken an unconventional route through junior college to Hofstra.
By the time he left, he had become one of the best players in NCAA lacrosse.
First Overall
On September 18, 2017, the Buffalo Bandits made Josh Byrne the first overall selection in the NLL Draft.
He became the first Hofstra athlete in any sport to be selected first overall in a professional draft.
That's a remarkable distinction.
But being selected first brings expectations.
Eventually you have to prove you deserved it.
Byrne has done considerably more than that.
Buffalo
Byrne developed into one of the centrepieces of a Buffalo Bandits team that became the standard in the National Lacrosse League.
His combination of size and athleticism makes him extraordinarily difficult to defend.
At 6-foot-3, he can use his body.
But he's also agile enough to attack from angles players his size aren't supposed to reach.
Then there are the hands.
The creativity.
The ability to improvise.
“Air Byrne” became one of the league's most recognizable stars.
But highlights are only part of the story.
The production became elite too.
The 2024 Season
In 2023-24, everything came together.
Byrne led the entire National Lacrosse League with 135 points.
He was named the NLL Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year.
Then he got even better when the playoffs arrived.
Buffalo advanced to the NLL Finals against Albany.
In the two-game championship sweep, Byrne accumulated:
4 goals
12 assists
16 points
He was named NLL Finals MVP.
League MVP.
Championship.
Finals MVP.
That's about as complete a season as an offensive player can have.
A Buffalo Dynasty
The 2024 championship wasn't an isolated accomplishment.
It was part of something much larger.
Buffalo won the NLL championship in:
2023
2024
2025
Three consecutive championships.
Byrne became one of the central offensive figures in a team that will be remembered among the great runs in NLL history.
And while the championship streak ended in 2026, the previous three seasons had already established what this generation of Bandits accomplished.
For Byrne, it added another layer to his career.
He wasn't simply collecting individual statistics.
He was becoming associated with winning.
Six Nations Chiefs
Then summer arrives.
And somehow the competition doesn't get any easier.
Byrne joins the Six Nations Chiefs, where he's surrounded by an extraordinary collection of offensive talent.
Dhane Smith.
Lyle Thompson.
Ryan Smith.
Chris Cloutier.
Cody Jamieson.
On another roster, Byrne could easily be the player everything runs through.
With Six Nations, he becomes one part of an offense where virtually every player can take over a game.
That creates a nightmare for opposing defenses.
Focus too heavily on Byrne and someone else will hurt you.
Give Byrne too much room?
That's usually worse.
Three Straight Mann Cups
The championship success Byrne experienced in Buffalo has been mirrored during the summer.
Six Nations captured the Mann Cup in:
2023
2024
2025
Three consecutive Canadian Senior A championships.
Consider what that means.
From 2023 through 2025, Byrne's teams won both the NLL championship and Mann Cup every single year.
Six major championships in three years.
That's an extraordinary stretch of winning.
And Byrne was right in the middle of it.
Two Homes
There is also an interesting element to Byrne's Six Nations story.
He's a New Westminster kid.
The Salmonbellies are part of his lacrosse roots.
Yet twice during Six Nations' three-year Mann Cup run, the Chiefs defeated New Westminster for the championship—in 2023 and again in that unforgettable seven-game series in 2025.
That's one of the unique realities of Canadian senior lacrosse.
The communities that develop players don't always become the teams they eventually chase championships with.
For Byrne, New Westminster helped create the player.
Six Nations became one of the places where he became a champion.
Both are part of his story.
More Than Highlights
It's tempting to describe Byrne through the spectacular plays.
The diving goals.
The one-handed finishes.
The shots from impossible angles.
They're fun.
And they're part of what makes him special.
But spectacular plays aren't what make someone an MVP.
Consistency does.
Decision-making does.
Making teammates better does.
Winning does.
The highlights show us what Josh Byrne can do.
His résumé shows us how often he actually does it.
By the Numbers
Hometown: New Westminster, British Columbia
Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
High School: New Westminster Secondary
Junior: New Westminster Salmonbellies
Junior: BCJLL Rookie of the Year / MVP
College: Nassau Community College / Hofstra University
2015: NJCAA Attackman of the Year / All-American
2017: CAA Player of the Year / USILA Third Team All-American
NLL Draft: 1st Overall, 2017 — Buffalo Bandits
NLL Team: Buffalo Bandits
2024: NLL MVP
2024: NLL Offensive Player of the Year
2024: NLL Finals MVP
NLL Championships: 2023 / 2024 / 2025
MSL Team: Six Nations Chiefs
Mann Cups: 2023 / 2024 / 2025
Gary Groob's Take
Josh Byrne is one of those players where I sometimes catch myself wondering what he's going to try before he actually does it.
That's part of the fun of watching him.
There are players where you understand exactly what they're trying to create.
With Josh, I'm not always sure.
And I mean that as a compliment.
He sees possibilities that other players don't.
A defender might think he's taken away the angle - Josh still sees one.
A goalie thinks he's covered the net - Josh finds somewhere else to put the ball.
And just when you're expecting him to shoot, he'll find a teammate you didn't realize was open - That's creativity.
But here's what I think sometimes gets lost when we talk about Josh Byrne:
The guy wins.
Look at that three-year stretch from 2023 through 2025.
Buffalo Bandits — NLL champions.
Six Nations Chiefs — Mann Cup champions.
Then do it again.
And again.
Six championships in three years.
You can call that being on great teams—and he absolutely has been.
But great teams still need their great players to be great.
Josh has been.
In 2024, he led the NLL in scoring, was named league MVP and then produced 16 points in two championship games to earn Finals MVP.
That's not riding along with a championship team.
That's driving it.
And when I watch him with Six Nations, what amazes me is how well he fits into an offense filled with superstars.
He doesn't have to dominate the ball every possession.
He can let Dhane Smith create.
He can work off Lyle Thompson.
He can find Ryan Smith.
And then suddenly Josh has the ball, attacks the middle and something completely different happens.
There's no ego in making the extra pass when you're surrounded by that much talent.
That's championship lacrosse.
I also think there's something special about the journey.
New Westminster.
Nassau Community College.
Hofstra.
First overall pick.
Buffalo.
Six Nations.
NLL MVP.
Finals MVP.
Six championships in three years.
There aren't many boxes left unchecked.
And yet when I watch Josh Byrne play, I don't get the feeling I'm watching somebody satisfied with what he's already accomplished.
I see someone looking for the next opening.
The next goal.
The next championship.
Maybe that's what separates the truly great players.
They can accomplish almost everything and still play like there's something left to prove.
Josh Byrne has become one of the biggest stars in lacrosse.
And he's unquestionably one of the Stars of MSL.
— Gary Groob