In the ever-evolving world of professional lacrosse, few figures are as steady as Jim Stagnitta. Since the inaugural season of the PLL in 2019, the Maryland Whipsnakes’ head coach and general manager has established a culture of consistency and competitiveness. The Whipsnakes have made four championship game appearances (2019, 2020, 2021, 2024), secured two titles and have never missed the postseason.
“The team culture starts with Stagnitta, who, in my opinion, is one of the best GMs in the league,” Colin Squires said. “He manufactures rosters to be highly successful, even without the top draft picks every single year.”
While first-round talent has paid dividends for this year’s Whipsnakes squad – drafting Ajax Zappitello No. 3 overall in 2024 and Aidan Carroll No. 7 overall in 2025 – Stagnitta has quietly built one of the league’s deepest rosters through savvy midseason moves and late-round draft steals. In just the last two seasons, four of Maryland’s current starters were drafted in the third or fourth round: TJ Malone, Adam Poitras, Christian Mazur and goalie Emmet Carroll.
But it’s Stagnitta’s midseason maneuvering that has often provided the final push for Maryland’s playoff runs. Ahead of Tuesday’s PLL trade deadline, here’s a look back at the Whipsnakes’ history of deadline additions:
Ryan Conrad
Most recently, a week before the 2024 trade deadline, Stagnitta sent a 2025 second-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Waterdogs in exchange for Conrad.
“I’ve always liked him. I liked him from the first draft. I liked him when he was in college,” Stagnitta said. “Then the Waterdogs were looking to make some changes in their lineup. We saw it as an opportunity. Just thought he was well worth the second-round pick.”
The midfielder debuted for Maryland in its final game of the 2024 regular season and made an immediate impact, notching a hat trick and dishing out an assist in the Whipsnakes’ 16-9 victory over the Denver Outlaws.
He went on to record seven points (5G, 2A) in the Whipsnakes’ three-game playoff run, culminating with another hat trick against the Archers in the Championship Game.
“I felt like how we would use him might fit his style of play a little bit better,” Stagnitta said. “We used him to invert. We used him in a lot of offensive situations where he was playing as much defense as offense. I think he gained confidence. And I think he, you know, he embraced that role.”
While Conrad has been on the physically unable to perform list for the entirety of the 2025 season, he brought a spark to the Whipsnakes’ 2024 run to the title game.
Jackson Morrill
Morrill was also involved in an in-season trade in 2023, when the Whipsnakes acquired the attackman from the Chrome along with a 2024 third-round draft pick.
“We were looking for guys who can really move the ball, bang it around, play on ball, play off ball, and play with both hands, and that was Jackson,” Stagnitta said. “Maybe we got him a little late in his career, or a little too far into his professional career, but it was what we were looking for at the time.”
While Morrill only recorded 10 points (2G, 8A) in four games with the Whipsnakes, the draft pick that accompanied him to the Whips turned into Malone, who is now the face of Maryland’s up-and-coming young roster.
Justin Guterding
Guterding recorded impressive rookie and sophomore seasons, tallying 28 points (18G, 10A) with the Ohio Machine in 2018 and a career-high 35 points (20G, 1T, 14A) with the Chrome in 2019.
Despite his production declining in his third and fourth seasons in the league, Guterding was a proven playmaker, and the Whips took advantage of a buy-low opportunity. He was traded in a straight-up deal for long-stick midfielder Nick Grill in 2021.
Grill became a starter for the Chrome and enjoyed a career year with the Outlaws last season. But at the time of the trade, with Michael Ehrhardt still in his prime and a young Squires on the roster, his opportunities for playing time with the Whipsnakes were limited.
Guterding appeared in nine games over two seasons with the Whips, totaling seven goals and 12 assists.
What’s next?
Stagnitta has maximized the trade deadline year in and year out and has always looked to put his team in the best possible position entering the close of the regular season.
The Whipsnakes sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and need a win against the Cannons on Saturday night to keep their playoff hopes alive. But Stagnitta remains confident in the group he’s built and doesn’t seem likely to shake things up before the deadline this year.
“I like our lineup. I like the people here in the locker room,” he explained. “We’re just not getting the job done consistently.”
With a predominantly young core headlined by Malone, Aidan Carroll, Matt Brandau, Poitras and Levi Anderson, Stagnitta has hinted at the downside of bringing in another player to the roster so late in the season.
“I don’t know that adding someone to the lineup in the last week of the season is going to make much of a difference on that, and maybe even put you more out of sync,” he continued.
If Stagnitta does opt to swing a trade, he must do so by 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
