2023-2024 Record: 13-5, 2nd place, Lost 2-0 to the Albany Firewolves in semifinals.
New Faces: F Ben McIntosh, F Callum Crawford, F Rob Hellyer, T Zach Currier, F Ryan Benesch
Key Losses: F Dane Dobbie, F Curtis Dickson, F Austin Staats (suspension), F Jacob Dunbar
The same old question remains for the San Diego Seals: Can they get over the hump to compete for an NLL championship. For the past couple of years, they have been one of the best regular season teams, but come playoff time they can’t buy a victory.
One of the contributing factors for that may be age. The Seals did lost a couple of older players by trading Curtis Dickson and losing Dane Dobbie to free agency. However, they replaced them with the likes of Ben McIntosh, Rob Hellyer and Ryan Benesch. While these players are elite, they aren’t exactly spring chickens.
For another year, the Seals will likely be competing for the top spot in the standings, but with a roster that continues to age, questions remain whether it can stand the test into the playoffs.
San Diego Offence
On the right side, San Diego will have Hellyer, Ben McIntosh, Wes Berg, and Tre Leclaire. What is unknown at this point is the status of Callum Crawford. After picking him up in the Panther City dispersal draft, he has since rejected the franchise tag. As of writing this, it unknown if he will be playing or potentially hanging them up. Regardless, the Seals already have a lot of strength on the right side.
San Diego will have Mac O’Keefe, Justin Sykes, Kyle Jackson, Jake Govett and Ryan Benesch on the left side. Aside from Benesch, they are much younger. One notable missing name is Austin Staats. While he’s been suspended for the first half of the season, off-field troubles will likely keep him off the floor this season and potentially longer.
As mentioned above, the issue is with age and how that will translate through an entire season and playoffs. Hellyer, McIntosh, Crawford, Benesch and even Berg are aging stars that have an expiry date.
San Diego Defence and Transition
Kyle Rubisch, Cam Holding, Eli Gobrecht and Kellen Leclaire are either approaching 30 years of age or over. Even Drew Belgrave is in his late 20s. There is also the question of whether Brodie Merrill is returning or whether he is retiring again.
That being said, guys like Graydon Bradley, Hunter Jaronski and Liam Phillips are the future for the defence. Let’s not forget the Seals drafted well in picking up Trent DiCicco, who proved he can play among men in the WLA.
In transition, the biggest off-season addition was trading Curtis Dickson back to Calgary to get Zach Currier. Although he’s pushing 30, there is no questioning he was one of the fastest players in the league and a major threat on transition, which is something San Diego could improve on from last year.
Trevor Bapiste will once again bring stability at the faceoff dot, although he is currently on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
San Diego Goaltending
This is the one position for San Diego where the future looks bright. Chris Origlieri had a rough start to his season last year, but really started to shine as he got more and more comfortable in his starting role. At only 22 years of age, he will be solid for San Diego well into the future.
However, the Seals better hope he can stay healthy for the entire season. Behind him is semi-retired 39-year-old Mike Poulin. While there is no questioning that Poulin is a great mentor for Origlieri, I don’t think regular duty is in the card for him.
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