For a few agonizing hours Tuesday, one of the Colorado Mammoth's most recognizable players no longer was a part of the team.

Brian Langtry, a forward who has been with the National Lacrosse League team since it moved to Denver in 2003, was selected in the league's expansion draft by the yet-to-be-named Boston franchise.

But Langtry was shipped back to Colorado later in the day for Sean Morris and Casey Cittando. Morris and Cittando were selected by the Mammoth during the 2006 entry draft, but neither played last season.

"When I first saw I was unprotected, I didn't think it was a big deal because I didn't think (Boston) would select me," said Langtry, who has 123 goals and 133 assists in five seasons. "If the trade wouldn't have worked out, my indoor lacrosse career would have been over."

Langtry, who became a crowd favorite during his rookie-of-the-year season of 2003 partially because he was one of the few Mammoth players who lived in Denver at the time, is a teacher and coach in the area and plays outdoor lacrosse for the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse. He also has two young children and said leaving Colorado wasn't an option.

But Langtry, 31, interpreted being left off the Mammoth's 14-player protected list as a possible hint he better improve his play if he is to remain with the team long term.

"It's nothing that Steve or the organization said to me, just how I'm evaluating myself," said Langtry, who was told Tuesday morning a deal likely was in place with Boston to bring him back. "I had a hot-and-cold season last year. When I was bad, I was really bad, and when I was good, I was as good as I've ever been. But there were times when I tried to do too much."

The Mammoth also traded its second-round pick in the September entry draft to the Edmonton Rush for 12-year veteran Jason Wulder, a forward who had 10 goals and 35 assists last season.