The Seals, fittingly, made the splashiest move of the offseason when they traded for Calgary’s Wes Berg in July. The 26-year-old forward sat out last season with the Roughnecks due to a contract dispute but ranked eighth in the league in points in 2018 and already has 232 career points in the NLL.
“It’s exciting that we’re being aggressive,” Brodie Merrill said. “He’s obviously one of the top young players in the game, and he’s also a character person.”
Berg watched the Seals from afar last season and was impressed with what he saw. “It’s an offense that doesn’t just have the ball sit in one guy’s stick,” he said. “There’s a lot of good friends out there. It’s going to be exciting to work together as a unit and start gelling, getting some chemistry going.”
Patrick Merrill wasn’t done adding to his offense, sending draft picks to Colorado for veterans Zack Greer and Jeremy Noble in September. Serving as another addition of sorts on that side of the ball is Connor Fields, a first-round draft pick last season who was limited to three games due to injury.
Defensively, the Seals turned to the draft for added troops and have a handful of Americans that could make a difference. Garrett Epple and Mark Glicini are two names to keep an eye on.
The news isn’t all positive. Staats tore his ACL toward the end of the regular season, keeping him out this summer and likely into the season. And veteran Dan Dawson opted to leave via free agency to play for the Toronto Rock.
But the Seals added depth and will get more time to connect with one another heading into the year than they did last season, when training camps were stalled during a labor disagreement.
“Our plan is to take another step,” Patrick Merrill said, “and go further in the playoffs toward fighting for a championship at the end of the year."