Dsimp13's Dynasty Blog
Navigating to the Northwest - Seattle Navigators Expansion NHL 18
Posted on March 14, 2018 at 10:10 AM.
After an eventful 2017 NHL Draft, Seattle Navigators GM Dan Simpson set his sights on his existing roster. GMDS had 11 expiring contracts to deal with, not to mention the free agent market.
Simpson wasted no time, and on the first day of the re-sign period offered contracts to every player.
The scouting team met with the head coach and GM, and Seattle reached a decision to let each draft pick play one more year in juniors. The thought behind it was that the farm system was too raw to let the picks play with more appropriate line-mates, and risk impeding growth. They will re-evaluate next season.
The two UFAs, Cody Franson and Matt Cullen, were both skeptical about playing for an upstart expansion team, and had let their agents know to inform the GM. Simpson offered Cullen $2m over 2 years, up from the $1.7 number the player was hoping for. Cullen accepted, and changed his view from "win now" to helping the Navs get on the track to success. Franson received the exact offer his agent mentioned, $1.825m over 2 years, but both sides agreed that he would be better off hitting the open market.
There were 9 different RFAs up, and each received offers. In this group, GMDS locked in one of his top 4 defenseman (de Haan, 3/$4.125), backup goalie (Grubauer, 2/$2.825), among other upstart players.
NEW CONTRACTS
Matt Cullen - 2/$2m
Calvin de Haan - 3/$4.125
Ryan Dzingel - 2/$1.725
Alex Burmistrov - 2/$0.950
Scott Laughton - 1/$1.175
Matt Nieto - 2/$0.850 (2 Way)
Reid Boucher - 2/$0.875 (2 Way)
Seth Griffin - 2/$0.900 (2 Way)
Ville Pokka - 1/$0.750 (2 Way)
While Seattle wasn't in the market for any of the big free agents, there were definitely some holes on the roster that needed filled.
After trading Martinez, Coburn, and Myers, there was an opening in the top 4. GMDS filled that spot by nabbing Justin Schultz for $4.9m over 3 years. He had to juice the contract a bit to outspend a few other teams, but in the end he got his man.
One big need was top 6 depth, so GMDS looked to find a reliable winger without breaking the bank or making a long-term commitment. The answer he found was in RW Justin Williams, Mr. Game 7 himself. Even at age 36, Williams can hopefully continue to contribute at a moderate level, and said yes to the contract offer of $4m over 2 years.
Now that two voids were filled on the big club, Simpson needed to look at his minor league squad, the Connecticut Huskies.
Looking out for young, raw talent who would be okay playing for cheap, GMDS took a flyer on seven guys.
Two centers were acquired, Antti Suomela and Aleksi Saarela. Saarela had interest from a plethora of other teams, but eventually signed a 1 year, $925,000 deal to play for the Huskies. Hopefully these guys can prove themselves to be productive options down the middle.
On the wings, the Navs picked up Ty Rattie and Jacob de la Rose, two okay prospects. The hope is that a change of scenery and some decent minutes in the AHL can help these two grow.
Three defensemen were signed, Jarred Tinordi, Jordan Oesterle, and Johannes Johannesen.
The preseason went about as well as could be expected, with wins and losses not really taken seriously by the ownership. Instead, the Navs looked to build some chemistry and get everyone working together, thus keeping the same roster for the entirety of the preseason. The stats are below:
Spoiler
With bated breath, the Seattle Navigators are as ready to go for the inaugural season, going with the depth chart below:
Spoiler
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