Seals wheel-and-deal before selecting left-handed defenseman Aidan Maguire from Duke in the first round of Thursday’s National Lacrosse League Draft
San Diego Seals Head Coach and General Manager Patrick Merill did some wheeling-and-dealing on Thursday afternoon just hours ahead of the start of the 2026 NLL Draft, setting the stage to bolster the team’s back end by selecting left-handed defenseman Aidan Maguire from Duke with their first overall pick (10th overall). Merrill sent the Seals’ first-round pick in this year’s draft (fifth overall) to Calgary in exchange for the Roughnecks’ first-round pick that they used to select Maguire, along with Calgary’s first-rounder in next year’s draft.
“Aidan’s a big strong kid at 6-1, 205 pounds who had a really nice career at Duke and he’s going to give us a stout physical presence to help solidify the back end of our defense,” said an excited Merrill after turning in the card that bore Maguire’s name. “We’re thrilled to get him!”
Maguire enjoyed a highly decorated career for the Blue Devils that included being named the Raymond J. Enners National Most Outstanding Player of the Year in 2026 and the Lt. Donald MacLaughlin National Midfielder of the Year in 2025. He was a two-time consensus first-team All-America (2025 and ’26), the Atlantic Coast Conference’s co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 and an All-ACC pick in 2025 and ’26. Maguire also was named Duke’s Male Senior Student-Athlete of the Year in 2026 and four times (2023-26) he was named to the All-ACC Academic Team and the Academic Honor Roll.
Maguire played in 72 career games at Duke, causing 68 turnovers, fifth-most in school history, to go along with 161 ground balls collected, 19 goals scored and 16 others assisted on.
And this is not the first time that Maguire’s had his name called in draft proceedings. In April, he became the first defensive midfielder in professional lacrosse history to be drafted first overall when he was selected by the Professional Lacrosse League’s (PLL) Utah Archers.
A native of Hingham, MA, Maguire prepped at St. Sebastian’s School in Needham.
The Seals had four additional picks after selecting Maguire, one each in the second through fifth rounds.
In the second round, the team selected right-handed forward Lucas Dudemaine from Georgetown with the 22nd overall pick. The 6-2, 190 pounder hails from Toronto. A team captain as a senior, Dudemaine was part of Hoyas squads that captured Big East Conference titles in each of his four seasons. Dudemaine, a four-time Big East All-Academic Team selection, scored 15 goals and logged 10 assists during his Hoyas career.
As a prep, Dudemaine played box lacrosse for Mimico Lacrosse and field lacrosse for Edge Lacrosse and his teams won a pair of Ontario Box Lacrosse Championships and a pair of Ontario Field Lacrosse Championships.
The Seals used their third-round selection (35th overall) on forward Bowie Horsman, a 6-3, 165-pound left-handed forward from Cornell. Horsman saw limited action at Cornell, playing in just 13 career games with four goals scored, but Merrill is very familiar with Horsman’s game as he played at Merrill’s Hill Academy in Ontario as a prep.
The Seals used their final two picks on goaltender Greyson Beggs of the British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League in the fourth round with the 47th overall selection and left-handed defenseman Owen Wills of Saint Leo University, who also trained at The Hill Academy, in the fifth round with the 56th overall selection.
The Seals had a total of five picks in this afternoon’s draft:
Round 1 - 10th Overall
Aidan Maguire - Defender - Lefty - Duke University
Round 2 - 22nd Overall
Lucas Dudemaine - Forward - Righty - Georgetown University
Round 3 - 35th Overall
Bowie Horsman - Forward - Lefty - Cornell University
Round 4 - 47th Overall
Greyson Beggs - Goalie - Lefty - BCJALL
Round 5 - 56th Overall
Owen Wills - Defense - Lefty - Saint Leo University
For the latest news and information on the San Diego Seals, including recent transactions, visit sealslax.com and frontwavearena.com.
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