Special player this Fan's Favourite Special Teamer

The Burnaby Lakers Special Teams Player of the Year is a very special sniper.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="400"] First-year Laker Eli McLaughlin tallied a league-best four shorthanded goals and was tenth overall in the WLA this season with 30 assists. Garrett James photo[/caption]

Eli McLaughlin has a knack for the netting when it comes to special teams, tallying more than 105 goals, while with the man advantage or a man down, in his combined junior and senior A box lacrosse careers since 2010.

The No. 2 overall draft pick of the Nanaimo Timbermen in 2015 crossed the strait to become a Laker this year and fit in nicely, scoring 15 goals and adding a tenth-best 30 assists in the Western Lacrosse Association this season.

McLaughlin also posted four power-play markers and a league-high four counters while shorthanded in his debut season as a Burnaby Laker.

The crafty left-hander was equally effective in the playoffs, scoring 10 times in a seven-game series against the Victoria Shamrocks and posting a second-best scoring percentage of 0.323 among offensive attackmen in the post season.

While with the T-Men, McLaughlin also led his team in power-play goals with five in 2015.

But his overall box numbers paint a more telling picture.

In his two-year senior career to date, McLaughlin has scored 31 goals in the regular season and nearly a third of them (nine) have been on the power play.

This season, McLaughlin garnered a season-best eight-point game in Langley, earning the game's first star following a 9-8 victory over the Thunder early in the season.

In that game, three of McLaughlin's four goals came on special teams, including a pair of power-play tallies.

McLaughlin's prowess with the man advantage came as no surprise to WLA watchers.

The former Delta Islanders sharpshooter had a storied upbringing, counting 223 goals, 187 assists and 410 total points in league and playoffs over his five-year junior A career.

In junior, McLaughlin fired 75 power-play goals, another 18 while on the shortman and 14 game-winning tallies.

McLaughlin was much sought after as a junior come playoff time and was dealt to Minto Cup contenders at the trade deadline in both 2013 to New Westminster and again in 2014 to Coquitlam.

In 2013, McLaughlin posted his best season as a junior in Delta, scoring 52 goals and 88 points, including a career-high 17 power-play goals, eight shorthanded goals and six game-winners.

McLaughlin capped off his junior A regular-season career with a 0.304 scoring percentage, while averaging 3.42 points per game.