The Saskatchewan Rush have signed Mike Messenger to a two-year contract.
General manager Derek Keenan locked up the franchised defender who has played 127 NLL games. The 30-year-old was selected third overall by the Rush in the 2016 NLL Entry Draft.
“There are very few players in the NLL who bring the diverse skill set Mike Messenger brings to the table. He’s a physical presence on the D end, plays on our penalty kill unit, can score in transition and in settled offense sets and contributes at the faceoff dot. We are very pleased to have Mike committed for two more seasons,” Keenan said in a statement.
The six-foot-two, 230-pound transition threat had 12 goals and 27 points last season. At the dot, the Surrey, B.C. native won 42 percent of his faceoffs while scooping up 148 loose balls and causing 35 turnovers.
“Really looking forward to coming back to the Saskatchewan for two more seasons. I was drafted here, and this place has felt like home. The team is like family, the organization and staff go above and beyond, and the fans are remarkable and so so loud which makes playing unbelievably more fun,” Messenger, who is relocating to Saskatoon for the upcoming winter, said in a statement.
Entering his eighth season with Saskatchewan, the 2018 NLL champ sees his contract take him through the 2025-2026 campaign with the Rush.
As a part of his signing, Messenger chose to raffle off a game worn and signed jersey from last season, with proceeds going towards Jim Pattison Children's Hospital.
