Dickson Returns to Calgary, Currier to Seals in Significant Deal

The San Diego Seals and Calgary Roughnecks just conducted the most significant trade of 2024.

In a shocking turn of events, the Roughnecks traded the negotiating rights to two-time NLL Transition Player of the Year, Zach Currier, the 14th overall selection in the 2024 Entry Draft, and Calgary’s second-round selection in the 2026 Entry Draft, to the Seals in exchange for top 10 all-time NLL goalscorer, Curtis Dickson, and San Diego’s fourth-round selection in the 2024 Entry Draft.

Rarely do you see a deal like this one where two names of this magnitude swap teams, but both San Diego and Calgary wanted to complete it before the free agency market opened on August 1st, which is only three weeks away. Once those floodgates open, teams risk losing key assets without getting anything in return.

With six unrestricted free agents to deal with, including Currier, Roughnecks’ GM Mike Board knew he was going to have plenty of tough decisions to make this summer. Other than Zach, Christian Del Bianco, Jeff Cornwall, Logan Schuss, Dan Taylor, and Zach’s brother, Josh, were all coming into this offseason looking for new deals. The fact that Currier and Del Bianco, in particular, were looking for new contracts put the Roughnecks’ brass in a difficult position.

“Zach Currier and Christian Del Bianco are both up for UFA status, and we only have one [franchise] tag to keep a player,” GM Board said. “We kind of felt that this was a way to manage assets and move things forward. It’s a tough call when you do trades like this, for sure, but we felt like this was the right direction to go. We’re sad to see Zach go, but we’re very happy to acquire a player of Curtis’ caliber.”

Roughnecks’ head coach Josh Sanderson agreed with the sentiment that it is tough to be having Currier join another team, but that bringing in Dickson addresses one of the team’s main issues from last season: goals scoring.

During last season, Coach Sanderson’s first year as the Roughnecks’ head coach, the team averaged 11 goals per game, which was tied for the 3rd-worst goals per game mark in the league during the regular season – this was down from 12.11 goals per game the season before Sanderson’s arrival. Furthermore, since the Roughnecks’ inaugural season in 2002, this was the team’s second-lowest goals per game average in franchise history (the lowest was 10.7 during the 2021-22 season).

“We’re trying to get better from last year,” Coach Sanderson said. “Obviously, last year, we were a little disappointed. As a [coaching] staff, and with Mike [GM Board], we’ve identified some areas where we want to get better, and adding some goals to our lineup was definitely one of those, so this addresses a pretty big need for us.”

“He’s [Dickson] one of the all-time scorers of this league, and I worked really well with him in San Diego a couple of years ago… We expect Curtis to do what he’s done his whole career. He’s a tough check, he’s a great athlete, we’ll lean on him for some leadership.”

Dickson, who will be coming into the 2024-25 NLL Season as the seventh-best goalscorer in NLL regular season history with 529 goals, has the potential to change that. Dickson does know how to score, especially for the Roughnecks. It was in Calgary with the Roughnecks, from 2011-2022, that Dickson established as one the league’s all-time best goal scorers. It was the 2022-23 season (Dickson’s first with the Seals) when the elite goalscorer and Coach Sanderson first worked together.

The question now is: Can he get back to those prolific goal-scoring days from the 2010s? Dickson is turning 36 next week, and he is coming off a season where he produced his lowest points per game average (not including the COVID-shortened season) since 2014, and, last season, he missed more games due to injury than ever before in his NLL career.

Business can be cutthroat, and make no mistake about it: Currier wanted to find a way to remain a member of the Roughnecks. Calgary has been his home since he was drafted third overall to the team in the 2017 NLL Entry Draft.

There has been so much roster turnover since Currier was picked up by the Roughnecks seven years ago that only he, Del Bianco and Tyler Pace (who is a restricted free agent this offseason) remained as part of the team for the 2023-24 season.

As difficult as it is for Currier to no longer be part of the Roughnecks, and, as much as he wanted to remain part of the Calgary organization, he is ready to make an impact with his new club.

Over the years, the Seals have dominated the Roughnecks in regular-season play. Since the Seals joined the league for the 2018-19 season, they are 10-3 against Calgary. Currier is excited about the prospect of being on the winning end of those battles now that he’s playing for the team that beat him so many times.

“I’ve played against them for a couple of years now, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about their management, so I’m excited to experience that first-hand,” Currier said. “They’re good at winning lacrosse games, so hopefully, I can contribute and be comfortable in my new home.”

As one of the league’s top transition players and one of the league’s best all-around players, Currier is eager to see how he will fit into the Seals’ system run by Head Coach and GM Patrick Merrill. Whether on defense or in transition, Currier can hurt teams all over the floor. GM Merrill stated that one of his primary goals this offseason was to improve the Seals’ transition game. He believes Currier does exactly that.

“An area of need for us in the offseason was to beef up our transition game, especially in transition with now Brodie moving on,” GM Merrill said. “When Trevor [Baptiste] wasn’t winning 85-90% of the face-offs, we were statistically kind of at the bottom of the league in our transition stats, so obviously we think that Zach is the best in the league at what he does, and I think he’s proven that throughout his career.

By adding Currier to the lineup, the hope is that he, Baptiste and Danny Logan can complement each other in transition and make them one of the best units in the league. GM Merrill added that he is excited to have a player like Currier on the squad because he can do a little bit of everything all over the floor. Currier is ready to tackle any battles he needs to fight wherever they are.

“They have a lot of big bodies back there [on defense] and a really good goalie,” Currier said. “I’m thinking that’s probably going to allow me a little bit of freedom to run around and put pressure on the ball and things like that. I’m excited to see how I’m going to fit in, and to see how they think I can contribute defensively and hopefully in transition, as well.”

It is important to remember that this trade is just the first step in figuring out Currier’s future. All San Diego did was acquire the negotiating rights to Currier. He is still a free agent. Keep your eyes on the transaction wire to see what happens next.

This was a deal fitting for the summer months, and it now brings up the question: With free agency just around the corner, will other teams be in the business of making deals to acquire assets before they risk losing players in free agency? Things are heating up this offseason, and they’re only bound to get hotter once free agency comes into full swing.