By Jeff Nagle
Riverview - Not known for his patience with bringing up homegrown talent, GM Jeff Nagle has been playing out-of-character this season and last. The Royals have been a playoff team every season in league history up until last season, and prospects of making the playoffs this year are getting slimmer by the day. The sacrifice is yielding top name prospects that will one day make the Royals perennial winners someday down the road. However, it appears as though the rock-bottom has been reached, the Royals will now be in build-mode from this offseason forward.
"I'm not going to play all of my cards right now, but I can assure you that we will be leveraging our cap flexibility this offseason to ice a competitive team next year. We will not be looking for another lottery pick and will instead be looking to get back to the playoffs.
"We already have a solid defense core, our goaltending will suffice, and we have a few good forwards to carry the load of ice time. We'll be looking to sign a few top name UFAs, and will be in on all of them. I don't feel that we are all that far away from being a good club again, only this time, we'll have a feeder system of young talent from Loggieville. Something we never had before." said GM Nagle.
Several top prospects in the system are having good years. Dave Andreychuk is having a point-per-game season, goalie Craig Anderson is having an above average season, and complimentary pieces such as Bobby Carpenter and Mike Sillinger are doing a decent job. Which players will catch lightning in a bottle and become an instant star is still up in the air. However, with a fully stocked farm team with many more draft picks in the hopper, the Royals are bound to catch a few.
9/16/2025 - 309 words
