Curtis Ward
Stars of OSL: Curtis Ward
Keep Producing — And Make Them Notice
Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
Hometown: Brampton, Ontario
MSL Team: Brampton Excelsiors
NLL Draft: 62nd Overall, 2025 — Las Vegas Desert Dogs
Production Has Followed Him Everywhere
There are different ways for a young player to get noticed.
Some arrive with enormous expectations.
Some are highly touted prospects from the time they're teenagers.
And then there are players who simply keep putting numbers on the board until people have no choice but to pay attention.
Curtis Ward fits that description.
Junior B.
Arena Lacrosse League.
Junior A.
Major Series Lacrosse.
Every time the level has increased, Ward has found a way to produce.
And at just 21 years old, the Brampton native is only beginning to find out where that production might take him.
Brampton Beginnings
Ward's lacrosse story is rooted in Brampton, Ontario, one of Canada's great lacrosse communities.
He spent time in the Brampton Excelsiors junior system, appearing at both the Junior B and Junior A levels early in his career.
In 2022, Ward scored 28 goals and 30 assists for 58 points in 19 Junior B games.
A year later, he followed with another productive season, recording 26 goals and 36 assists for 62 points in 17 games.
The numbers were already impressive.
But Ward was about to take another significant step.
An Offensive Explosion
The 2024 season with the Hamilton Bengals changed the trajectory.
Ward didn't simply have a good Junior B season.
He dominated.
In 20 regular-season games, the left-handed forward scored:
52 goals
55 assists
107 points
That's more than five points per game.
More importantly, the numbers demonstrated that Ward wasn't simply a goal scorer.
Fifty-two goals gets your attention.
Fifty-five assists tells you there's more to the player.
He could finish.
He could create.
And he could make the players around him dangerous.
Betting on Himself
Ward made an interesting decision in 2024.
He declared early for the National Lacrosse League Draft, giving up his NCAA eligibility for an opportunity to begin pursuing professional box lacrosse.
Then he went undrafted.
For a young player who had just scored 107 points, that could have been a significant setback.
Instead, Ward went back to work.
And what happened next might tell us more about him than getting drafted ever could.
Brampton Express
Ward joined the Brampton Express in the Arena Lacrosse League and spent the winter competing against older, more experienced players.
Once again, he produced.
In 2025, Ward exploded for 35 goals and 59 assists for 94 points in just 14 regular-season games.
That placed him among the league's leading scorers.
Then the playoffs arrived.
Ward added eight goals and 14 assists, leading the ALL in playoff scoring as the Brampton Express captured the 2025 ALL East championship.
He had taken the disappointment of going undrafted and answered it the best way possible.
On the floor.
Moving Up to Junior A
The next challenge came with the Peterborough Jr. A Lakers.
Junior A meant another jump in competition.
It didn't stop the production.
It didn't stop the production.
During the 2025 regular season, Ward recorded 20 goals and 47 assists for 67 points in 20 games.
Including the playoffs, he finished his Junior A season with 25 goals, 55 assists and 80 points in 29 games.
Once again, the pattern continued.
New level.
New challenge.
Same result.
Curtis Ward found a way to produce.
A Taste of Major Series Lacrosse
Ward also received an opportunity with the senior Peterborough Lakers in 2025.
It didn't take long for him to make an impression.
In one MSL appearance, Ward scored two goals.
For a young player still completing his junior career, those opportunities are valuable.
Suddenly you're sharing the floor with established NLL players.
The defenders are stronger.
The decisions have to be quicker.
The openings disappear faster.
It's an early look at the level you're trying to reach.
Ward showed he could play there.
Making His Mark In The OSL
Curtis Ward has also brought his offensive ability to Ontario Series Lacrosse with the Hamilton Bengals, contributing as both a scorer and a playmaker.
One of his standout performances came in Hamilton’s 10–5 victory over the Brooklin Merchants during the 2026 regular season. Ward scored three times in the opening period as the Bengals established a 6–1 lead, then added his fourth goal in the second. He also assisted on a Jaden Patterson marker and earned first-star honours. His goals came in different ways, including an outside shot, a finish from the side of the net and a loose-ball recovery that sent him in alone.
Ward continued to contribute in the playoffs. In Hamilton’s series-clinching 12–6 win over Ennismore, he recorded two goals and three assists. With the James Gang trying to close the gap in the third period, Ward scored twice in 49 seconds to help Hamilton regain control. The victory completed a two-game sweep and sent the Bengals into an OSL semifinal against Six Nations.
Those performances demonstrate the value Ward brings to an offence: he can finish opportunities himself while also creating chances for his teammates.
The NLL Calls
One year after going undrafted, Ward put his name back into the NLL Draft.
This time, somebody called it.
The Las Vegas Desert Dogs selected Curtis Ward 62nd overall in the fifth round of the 2025 NLL Draft.
It wasn't the first round.
It wasn't accompanied by enormous fanfare.
But I think that almost makes the story better.
Ward had taken his first shot at the draft and didn't hear his name.
Then he responded with 94 points in the ALL, an ALL championship and a huge Junior A season.
The Desert Dogs noticed.
Ward subsequently signed a three-year agreement with Las Vegas before being released from the active roster ahead of the season.
Another obstacle.
And once again, the answer would have to come on the floor.
Back Home in Brampton
That brings us to the 2026 Major Series Lacrosse season.
And appropriately enough, Ward is back home wearing a Brampton Excelsiors jersey.
Only now he's doing it at the senior level.
Throughout the summer, we've seen flashes of the offensive player his junior and ALL numbers suggested was coming.
Against Six Nations, Ward blasted home Brampton's first goal of the game against Doug Jamieson.
Against Brooklin, he scored from in front to tie the game early.
Against Cobourg, we saw even more.
Ward set up Thomas McConvey early in the second period, then scored himself in transition after being sent in alone by Julian Race.
In the third, Ward found McConvey again as Brampton completed a 12-10 comeback victory.
In another game against Cobourg, Ward helped fuel a furious seven-goal third period, scoring twice as the Excelsiors nearly erased a huge deficit.
That's a young offensive player becoming increasingly comfortable at the senior level.
More Than a Shooter
The first number that jumps off Ward's résumé is probably 52 goals.
But I keep coming back to the assists.
Fifty-five assists during that 107-point Hamilton season.
Fifty-nine with the Brampton Express.
Forty-seven during the 2025 Junior A regular season.
That tells us something.
Ward isn't simply waiting for somebody to put the ball in his stick.
He can create.
He can find teammates.
He can make the extra pass.
And for a young forward trying to establish himself at the senior and professional levels, that versatility matters.
By the Numbers
Hometown: Brampton, Ontario
Born: December 14, 2004
Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
Junior: Brampton Excelsiors / Hamilton Bengals / Peterborough Lakers
2024 Hamilton: 52 goals, 55 assists, 107 points — 20 games
2025 Brampton Express: 35 goals, 59 assists, 94 points — 14 games
2025: ALL East Champion
2025 Peterborough Jr. A: 20 goals, 47 assists, 67 points — 20 regular-season games
2025 Jr. A Including Playoffs: 25 goals, 55 assists, 80 points — 29 games
NLL Draft: 62nd Overall, 2025 — Las Vegas Desert Dogs
MSL Team: Brampton Excelsiors
OSL Team: Hamilton Bengals
Gary Groob's Take
I think the first thing that jumps out at me about Curtis Ward is pretty simple.
Every time the competition gets better, Curtis keeps finding a way to produce.
Look at the progression.
Junior B.
Arena Lacrosse League.
Junior A.
Ontario Series Lacrosse
Major Series Lacrosse.
Different teammates.
Different systems.
Better defenders.
Less time and space.
And somehow his name keeps appearing on the scoresheet.
But there's another part of his story I really like.
Curtis declared early for the NLL Draft in 2024.
Nobody picked him.
Think about that for a second.
You're a young player. You've just put up 107 points, including 52 goals, and you've made the decision that you're ready to pursue professional box lacrosse.
Then the draft ends without your name being called.
What do you do?
Curtis answered that question pretty emphatically.
He went to the Brampton Express and put up 94 points in 14 games.
Then he led the playoffs in scoring and helped them win a championship.
Then he went to Peterborough Junior A and produced again.
A year later, Las Vegas drafted him.
I like stories like that.
Because talent is one thing.
How you respond when something doesn't go your way tells me something else.
Now I'm watching him with Brampton in Major Series Lacrosse, and I'm starting to see the same player emerge.
He can shoot.
But don't concentrate solely on the shot.
Curtis sees the floor.
I've watched him find Thomas McConvey.
I've watched him score in transition.
I've watched him finish from in front.
I've watched him contribute when Brampton is trying to battle its way back into games.
And he's doing all of this at 21 years old.
Some of the players in this series have already won Mann Cups, NLL championships and international medals.
Curtis is at a completely different point in the journey.
We're getting the opportunity to watch him try to get there.
Maybe that's what makes his story so interesting.
We don't know yet how far Curtis Ward is going to go.
But there's one thing his career has shown us already.
Give him an opportunity, and he'll find a way to produce.
Gary Groob