MSL 
Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith
The Shooter — Give Him an Opening and He'll Make You Pay
Position: Forward
Shoots: Right
Hometown: Burlington, Ontario
MSL Team: Six Nations Chiefs
NLL Team: Rochester Knighthawks
Born to Score
Every great offensive player has something defenders fear.
With Ryan Smith, it's the shot.
Give him time and he'll shoot around you.
Give him space and he'll shoot through you.
Lose track of him for a moment and there's a pretty good chance the ball is already in the net.
But describing Smith simply as a shooter doesn't quite do him justice.
From Burlington Junior A to a record-setting career at Robert Morris University, through the National Lacrosse League and into the championship environment of the Six Nations Chiefs, Smith has continually developed other pieces of his game.
The shot gets your attention.
Everything else is why he's become one of the premier goal scorers in lacrosse.
Burlington Roots
Smith grew up in Burlington, Ontario, attending Nelson High School before taking his field lacrosse career south of the border.
His box lacrosse development continued with Burlington Junior A.
And the numbers were staggering.
Over two regular seasons, Smith scored:
97 goals
84 assists
181 points
in only 39 games.
He added another 27 points in eight playoff games.
Even then, the identity was becoming obvious.
Ryan Smith could put the ball in the net.
But his next stop would demonstrate that his game could translate just as effectively to the field.
Robert Morris University
Smith arrived at Robert Morris University in 2017.
It didn't take long for him to make an impression.
As a freshman, he became the first player in program history to win NEC Rookie of the Year.
That was only the beginning.
Over five seasons with the Colonials, Smith became one of the greatest offensive players in Robert Morris history.
By the time he left, he held program career records for:
Goals — 142
Points — 217
Games Played — 69
His final season in 2021 was extraordinary.
Smith produced career highs of:
48 goals
23 assists
71 points
in 13 games.
He recorded a hat trick in 11 of those 13 contests and established Robert Morris single-season records for points, points per game and goals per game.
Smith earned multiple All-America honours, was named Robert Morris' team MVP and appeared on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
The Burlington goal scorer had become one of the most decorated players in program history.
Third Overall
Professional lacrosse had already taken notice.
The Rochester Knighthawks selected Smith third overall in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft.
That's an enormous vote of confidence.
Rochester wasn't drafting a player it hoped might eventually become a contributor.
The Knighthawks believed Smith could become an important piece of their offense.
They were right.
National Lacrosse League
Smith's ability to score translated almost immediately.
He earned a spot on the 2022 NLL All-Rookie Team, beginning a remarkable stretch of consistency.
Through each of his first five professional seasons, Smith scored at least 30 goals.
Then came 2025.
Smith erupted for a career-high 49 goals, tying for second in the National Lacrosse League.
He followed with another 42 goals in 2026.
And along the way, he started rewriting Rochester's record book.
Through the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, Smith had become the Knighthawks' franchise leader in:
Goals — 205
Power-play goals — 58
Game-winning goals — 10
He also became the first player in the current Rochester Knighthawks franchise to reach 200 career goals.
Five seasons.
More than 200 goals.
That's remarkable consistency.
Six Nations Chiefs
During the summer, Smith brings that shot to one of the most talented rosters in Major Series Lacrosse.
The Six Nations Chiefs don't lack offensive weapons.
Dhane Smith.
Lyle Thompson.
Josh Byrne.
Chris Cloutier.
Cody Jamieson.
The list goes on.
That can actually make Ryan Smith even more dangerous.
Defenses have decisions to make on every possession.
Who gets the extra attention?
Who do you slide toward?
Who absolutely cannot be left alone?
And somewhere within all those decisions is a player who scored 55 goals during the 2025 MSL season and playoffs.
That's the problem.
Give Ryan Smith one opening and the decision may already have been made for you.
The 2025 Summer
The 2025 season became one of the defining stretches of Smith's career.
After scoring a career-high 49 goals during the NLL season, Smith carried that momentum directly into Major Series Lacrosse.
He led the Six Nations Chiefs with 55 goals in 25 games.
Then came the Mann Cup.
Six Nations travelled west to face the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
It became a tremendous seven-game series.
New Westminster won the first two games.
Six Nations responded.
The Salmonbellies took Game Five and pushed the Chiefs to the brink.
Six Nations won Game Six.
Everything came down to Game Seven.
The Chiefs won 12-7.
Three consecutive Mann Cups.
And when the series was finished, Ryan Smith had accumulated:
14 goals
12 assists
26 points
in seven games.
He was presented with the Mike Kelley Award as Mann Cup Most Valuable Player.
For a player whose career has been defined by scoring goals, this was different.
These weren't simply goals.
They were goals on Canadian senior lacrosse's biggest stage.
Representing Canada
Smith has also represented Canada internationally.
At the 2024 World Lacrosse Men's Box Championship in Utica, he helped Canada capture the gold medal.
Smith contributed 15 points in four games during the tournament.
Another team.
Another level.
Another championship.
By the Numbers
Hometown: Burlington, Ontario
Position: Forward
Shoots: Right
High School: Nelson High School
Junior: Burlington
Junior Regular Season: 181 points in 39 games
College: Robert Morris University
Robert Morris Career: 142 goals / 217 points
2017: NEC Rookie of the Year
2021: Multiple All-America honours / Tewaaraton Watch List
NLL Draft: 3rd Overall, 2020 — Rochester Knighthawks
NLL Team: Rochester Knighthawks
2022: NLL All-Rookie Team
NLL through 2025-26: 205 goals / 393 points
MSL Team: Six Nations Chiefs
2025: 55 goals in 25 MSL games
Mann Cups: Six Nations Chiefs
2025: Mike Kelley Award — Mann Cup MVP
International: Team Canada
2024: World Box Lacrosse Championship Gold Medal
Gary Groob's Take
There are certain players where, as soon as the ball gets into their stick, I find myself looking at how much room the defender has given them.
With Ryan Smith, sometimes my first thought is:
That's too much.
And a second later, the ball is in the net.
I've watched a lot of great shooters over the years, and Ryan has that quality the really dangerous ones possess.
He doesn't need much.
The release is quick enough that a defender doesn't necessarily have time to recover, and he has the ability to alter the angle just enough that a goaltender can't simply set and wait for the shot.
But what really impresses me is the consistency.
Thirty goals once is a good NLL season.
Ryan has scored at least 30 in every season he's played.
He scored 49 in 2025.
Then he came to Six Nations and scored 55 more during the summer.
And when the Mann Cup arrived, he didn't disappear.
He got better.
Fourteen goals in seven games.
Mann Cup MVP.
That's what great goal scorers do.
They don't simply fill the net when everything is comfortable.
They score when everybody in the building knows they're looking to shoot.
And there's another element that makes Ryan particularly dangerous with Six Nations.
Look at who is around him.
Dhane Smith can find anybody on the floor.
Lyle Thompson can create something out of seemingly nothing.
Josh Byrne commands enormous attention.
Then you've got Ryan Smith waiting for one little opening.
How exactly do you defend all of that?
Sometimes you can't.
I've always believed that the best shooters have something beyond technique.
They have confidence.
They want the ball.
They believe the next shot is going in regardless of what happened with the previous one.
I see that in Ryan Smith.
Robert Morris saw it.
Rochester saw it when they drafted him third overall.
Six Nations certainly knows it.
And after more than 200 NLL goals, 55 goals during that incredible 2025 summer and a Mann Cup MVP award, I think everyone else knows it too.
Ryan Smith is a goal scorer.
One of the very best in the game.
And that's exactly why he belongs among the Stars of MSL.
— Gary Groob