Contract negotiations around Saskatchewan Rush captain Ryan Keenan have been a bit unusual to say the least over the last couple of years, given the man making those decisions at the executive level is his father and team general manager Derek Keenan.
This time around, however, it was a bit more streamlined of a process than the last negotiation in 2023.
“We have fun with it to be honest,” said Rush general manager Derek Keenan. “I think last contract (Ryan) had an agent. He was like, ‘Well, I’m going to get an agent.’ So this time around I said, ‘Why don’t you save yourself the money because it’s not going to help you, it is what it is.’ He didn’t have the agent this time around and we were able to come to terms fairly easily.”
The Rush have locked up their two biggest free agents this National Lacrosse League off-season, re-signing both Ryan Keenan and the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer Robert Church to one-year contract extensions as announced on Thursday.
For the club’s GM, it was his biggest item to check off his list this summer and he is excited to see two of his longest-serving players back at SaskTel Centre for the 2025-26 season.
“You just don’t replace those guys either through free agency or the draft,” said Keenan. “Certainly a great appreciation from me to them in terms of they didn’t test free agency, that made it a little better for us. With not only their abilities but their leadership, I think is really important with our young group.”
The duo of Keenan and Church are among four players who last won an NLL title with the Rush back in 2018 and helped lead the team back to the championship series this past spring, where they’d push the Buffalo Bandits to three games before settling as runner-ups.
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It was a breakout season for Saskatchewan making their return to NLL playoffs for the first time in six years, while the duo led a group of young forwards including Brock Haley, Josh Zawada and Levi Anderson to a post-season run which electrified the province.
“Those two are part of our last (championship) and have grown as leaders over the years,” said Keenan. “They certainly bring a calming influence to a fairly young group of guys who hadn’t be there before and it was a learning process for the team.
“It took a couple of years, but I think we’re certainly heading in the right direction and having those two on board for the upcoming season is real important for us.”
Last season, Church moved into sole possession for goals scored as a member of the Saskatchewan Rush franchise and finished his year with 33 goals and 73 points in 14 regular season games, before adding 26 points in the post-season.
As for Keenan, the Rush’s captain, he contributed 26 goals and 73 points in 18 regular season games and posted 17 points in Saskatchewan’s run to the NLL Finals.
According to the elder Keenan, there was a push from the team perspective to sign the pair to a multi-year extension, but current negotiations between the NLL and the league’s players association over a new collective bargaining agreement for the 2025-26 season has complicated things.
“I’m pretty happy to have them back for the one year,” said Keenan. “We would have liked to do more of an extension to be honest, but there’s a lot of uncertainty with the new collective (bargaining) agreement and how it’s going to look. So one year (extensions) made sense for everybody.”
When asked if there is any worry about the start to the 2025-26 season being pushed back due to the ongoing negotiations, Keenan said it was likely “too early” to speculate.
Along with locking up his two veteran forwards, Keenan will also be returning to the Saskatchewan bench this winter as he’s coming off signing a two-year contract extension to remain co-head coach and general manager with an option in the second year.
“I’ve been trying to retire now for about seven years,” said Keenan. “I just still really enjoy it, the new group that we have are kind of re-energizing me. They’re fun to be around, they’re a great group to see every weekend because of how hard they work. When I talked it wasn’t that hard of a decision, a few years ago it was but now I really enjoy it and I’m happy to be back.”
One unrestricted free agent remains for Saskatchewan to sign in defenceman Adam Jay, before the NLL’s free agency window opens on Aug. 15.
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