Twas the night before the GM meeting and all through Harbour Station staff everywhere could see the hamsters in the wheel of GM John Kenny's brain was running a marathon. For the first time in many seasons we see the Saint John Kings in a position where the roster is not really secure prior to the league's annual GM meeting. Most seasons, as departure meetings are being completed with the players any fan worth their salt would be able to tell you 1 through at least 18 the teams upcoming season roster. This year it appears Kenny himself is stumped what team the Kings will ice once we get past 14 or 15 roster spots.
This season it appeared as though Kenny, like some of his players, suffered from the dreaded Cup hangover, leaving some of his normal planning or responsibilities a little under attended. As a news provider and fans we noticed a little less trade chatter so we reached out to a couple of “anonymoose” GMs who confirmed with us that the special red “bat phone” Saint John usually contacted on was not ringing every second day as in the past. In fact, rumour is that a certain aquatic team GM may or may not have had a wellness check done on the Kings GM around mid season.
Finally, these past 2 days Kenny has seemed to have come back to life though, perhaps a little late for a real organized GM meeting appearance though. Kenny seems to be trying to pull things together because this past season he seemed to just ride out his championship roster without facing the reality that things would have to change for the upcoming season. After the Kings were ousted by the eventual Cup runner up Dorchester Devils, the team is finally preparing for the meeting. The Kings moved out superstar Brady Tkachuk to free up a little cap room and potentially lower their top 3 in the league penalty minute standings by adding versatile winger Matt Boldy, a couple of draft picks, legend David Pastrnak and a Colin White contract from Albert County. Kenny then flipped the White contract in a draft pick swap deal with GM Ashton of the Miramichi Moose. The kings then swapped a few picks and prospects with the Angry Ducks looking to get a little more immediate impact on the Norton Dukes farm team. These moves paired with 3 picks in the upcoming draft is what the Loyalist City is hoping will secure this teams bright future moving forward. Now, on to the meeting!
Irwin P Freeley
Telegraph Journal
5/24/2025 - 429 words
