Navigating to the Northwest - Seattle Navigators Expansion NHL 18 - Dsimp13's Blog

Dsimp13's Blog

Navigating to the Northwest - Seattle Navigators Expansion NHL 18

Posted on March 16, 2018 at 04:14 PM.

(0)

Seattle Navigators Inaugural Season Ends Expectedly, But Not Without Some Disappointment

The Seattle Navigators finish their inaugural season with a record of 35-41-6, good for eighth place in the Pacific Division. Their 76 points tie them with the Bruins and Hurricanes for second worst total in the NHL, behind the Dallas Stars' 69.

Final Standings

While the ownership group is okay with the first season, GM Dan Simpson was not too happy with the result.

"Losing sucks, no matter how good you are, it sucks. I think we're set up decently for the future, but it still sucks. It's not so fun to see the other expansion team either. I know they had some breaks that we didn't have, but it's just gonna fire us up to get better faster."

GMDS is referring to the Vegas Golden Knights, who were already set up pretty nicely before winning the lottery and drafting Nolan Patrick first overall. That Golden Knights team snuck into the playoffs as a Wild Card, then won their way to the Stanley Cup Final. Once there, they took the Washington Capitals to Game 7 before falling to Ovechkin and company.

Check out the playoff field here:

End of Season Notes:

-While they were in playoff contention when the trades were made, Justin Williams (Boston) and Cam Ward (Los Angeles) both failed to make the playoffs with their new teams. (Boston actually finished last in the Atlantic Division)

-Unfortunately, the first round pick acquired from Boston in the Williams trade was Winnipeg's (1st place in the Central Division). The other first rounder Seattle snagged (in the Jonas Brodin deal) was Toronto's, who finished 3rd in the Atlantic.

-Yes, there was a lack of top rate talent on the team, but 49 points at a -23 is not the kind of stats you'd like to see lead your team (Artem Anisimov). Hopefully GMDS can find a way to add to the scoring depth while not giving up the farm.

-Phillip Danault signed a 2 year, $3.1m contract extension on the last day of the season. "He's a player we see competing for a top 6 center slot for the future," says Simpson. Danault finished with 42 points and a plus 7 in 79 games.

-Navigators Stats

Spoiler

-The three constant top 4 defensemen of the Navigators made their scoring presence felt, scoring 41 points (Schultz), 37 (Vatanen), and 25 (de Haan). Hopefully Carlo will complement the group well.

-End of Season Awards