After the Vancouver Warriors were eliminated by the Buffalo Bandits in the National Lacrosse League semifinals in May, head coach and general manager Curt Malawsky said the team was going to be aggressive in free agency — and boy, were they ever.

The Warriors made some huge splashes, acquiring forwards Jesse King and Curtis Dickson, along with defensemen Reece Callies and Shane Simpson. Scoring goals was an area of need for Vancouver. Bringing in King and Dickson, who both recorded over 100 points last season, will be a big boost for the offense. The Warriors pride themselves on bringing in homegrown talent, and all of their free-agent signings other than Simpson are B.C. natives. All four players are former Calgary Roughnecks who won the NLL championship in 2019 under Malawsky.

Malawsky spoke about what it means to add players he’s familiar with and who have championship pedigree.

“Having these guys battle through the trenches and winning the championship in 2019 was something I’ll never forget. These guys have that experience, they (have) the drive and they know what it takes to be successful. You can’t have enough guys that lay their bodies on the line when the games are on line.”

The Warriors now have five current and former NLL captains on their roster. Brett Mydske, Matt Beers, Ryan Dilks, Curtis Dickson, and Jesse King. Over the past two seasons, Vancouver leaned on younger players in key spots. King talked about how important it is to have so many leaders in the locker room.

“There’s so many leaders on this team, and there’s probably going to be opportunities where they look to me or to Curt or anyone else on the team. I know that it’s the culture that (Malawsky) creates. He creates a collection of leaders within this group. He’s not going to rely on one or two guys… I already know that I can trust guys that have letters on their chest along with everyone else in this locker room.”

The Warriors took huge strides as a team last year, finishing with an 11–7 record, making the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history and winning their first playoff game ever. The turning point of the season came when the team acquired star goaltender Christian Del Bianco at the trade deadline. Del Bianco was also part of that 2019 Roughnecks championship squad. Shane Simpson says he’s happy to be reunited with his old netminder, but it was the culture in Vancouver’s locker room that really sealed the deal.

“I’m very fortunate that (Del Bianco) is throwing me the ball on the floor. But more than that it’s the locker room that I was looking for.”

There will be higher expectations for the Warriors after last season and if free agency is any indication, they’re all in. An NLL championship is in sight for this group, and you can already feel the excitement building.

Training camp is underway, and the regular season kicks off November 29 at home at Rogers Arena against the Colorado Mammoth.