Up Next - Thunderbirds add six in 2025 NLL Draft

Sep 6, 2025

HALIFAX, NS (September 6, 2025) -- The Halifax Thunderbirds added six new players to their roster in the 2025 NLL Draft on Saturday afternoon. 

With their two first-round picks, the Thunderbirds took the chance to strengthen their forward core, selecting Alex Marinier sixth overall and Will Macleod 12th overall. 

Marinier, 21, was considered one of the top forward options in this year's draft class. 

This past summer, the Burlington, Ontario native finished his first year in the Major Series Lacrosse League with the Cobourg Kodiaks, posting 28 goals and 29 assists. 

Marinier had two separate 90-plus-point seasons with the Burlington Blaze to end his junior career. During the 2023 season, he posted 49 goals in the regular season, helping to lead his team to the Minto Cup in the process.

Marinier will be returning to the Ohio State University to wrap up his college career and will join the Thunderbirds next season. 

MacLeod was among the top left-handed forward options this year following a stellar junior career, as well as a strong first senior season in 2025. 

The lefty split time this summer with the Brooklin Lacrosse Club of Major Series Lacrosse and the OSL's Brooklin Merchants. 

In 17 games of MSL action, MacLeod posted 19 goals and 43 points. In Senior B, he had 38 goals and 63 points in 13 outings. 

Helping Brooklin offensively as they hosted the Presidents Cup just a few weeks ago. Across five games in that tournament, he had 21 points. 

The Burlington, Ontario product finished off his junior career in 2024 with an 111-point season with his hometown Blaze. That comes a year removed from a 2023 season where MacLeod helped Burlington capture the Minto Cup alongside now Thunderbirds teammate Alex Marinier.

The lefty played his first full season of senior lacrosse this year, splitting time with the Brooklin Lacrosse club of Major Series Lacrosse and the OSL's Brooklin Merchants. 

In 17 games of MSL action, MacLeod posted 19 goals and 43 points. In Senior B, he had 38 goals and 63 points in 13 outings. 

Helping Brooklin offensively as they hosted the Presidents Cup just a few weeks ago. Across five games in that tournament, he had 21 points. 

The Burlington, Ontario product finished off his junior career in 2024 with an 111-point season with his hometown Blaze. That comes a year removed from a 2023 season where MacLeod helped Burlington capture the Minto Cup alongside now Thunderbirds teammate Alex Marinier.

Halifax didn't hold another pick until the end of the third round, but with that pick, they added Ethan Lee from the Guelph and the Whitby Warriors. 

2025 was Lee's first full season of Junior A lacrosse after featuring with the Clarington Green Gaels in 2024. In 12 regular-season contests this summer, Lee registered three goals and four points in transition, but it was in the playoffs where he really shone. 

Posting six points in 17 postseason outings, Lee shouldered more defensive responsibility for the Warriors. 

Lee attends the University of Guelph, where he's in his third year with the Gryphons.

With their next two picks, Halifax continued to address defence, selecting Levi Touhey 59th overall and Payton Tasse 73rd overall. 

Touhey, a 2005-born defender, most recently spent time with the Orangeville Northmen of the OJLL, where he featured with the team in the 2025 Minto Cup Finals. 

This was the Surrey. BC native's second consecutive appearance in the National Championship, as he also played in the 2024 Minto Cup as a member of the Port Coquitlam Saints. He also played in the 2023 Founders Cup with the PoCo Junior B team. 

Touhey started out this summer before being moved to New Westminster before the BC trade deadline. However, he was flipped again out East to join Orangeville after just three games with the Salmobellies. 

In three games during the regular season, Touhey didn't register a point, but he posted two goals and four points in 12 playoff outings, displaying his ability to produce in transition. 

Tasse, 23, renounced his remaining NCAA eligibility after one season spent at Newberry. He previously attended St. Francis Xavier in nearby Antigonish, Nova Scotia. 

The Ottawa, Ontario product was a mainstay on the back end of the Nepean Knights during their Founders Cup Championship run in 2022, putting up 13 points in 16 games during that regular season. 

He has played parts of the last two summers in Major Series Lacrosse, last year with the Brampton Excelsiors before being moved to Peterborough and eventually Cobourg this summer, where he played under his Father, Jason -- a former NLL player. 

Across 10 games this summer, Tasse had a goal while playing on the penalty kill for the Kodiaks and serving as a stay-at-home defender on their back end. 

With their final selection in the 2025 draft, Halifax found some value in lefty forward Jack Charboneau. 

Charboneau just graduated from Johns Hopkins, where he spent four years as a member of the Blue Jays. He was named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2023, 2024, 2025) and Academic All-Big Ten (2023, 2024, 2025) in his time with the program. 

The product of Coquitlam, British Columbia spent his time in junior with his hometown Jr Adanacs, where he put up a pair of 60-point seasons while appearing in the 2023 Minto Cup. 

Charboneau had a strong year with Burnaby in the WLA this summer, putting up 10 goals and 29 points in 14 games, good for over two points per contest.