The biggest indication that the Royals are moving forward into a "win-now" mode is the gutsy swap in net. Veini Vehvilainen, the 34-year-old backstop from last year's group was hastily shipped off to rival Moncton in an apparent cap space dump. In return the Royals only got a third round pick in the season 16 draft. The move left the Royals briefly without a starting goalie which left some fans wondering if there would be a Craig Anderson sighting this season. However, the plan was to sign the big fish in the free agent pool, Igor Shesterkin. The 35-year-old veteran netminder performed admirably for the Miramichi Moose last season, guiding the upstart team to the ODBHL finals. The Royals swooped in and convinced the star goalie to sign a one year deal worth $6.25 million.

"We were not a good team defensively last season. It was our mission to change that this offseason. With Igor, we believe we have the right guy in net as we give Anderson more time to season his game in Loggieville. Igor brings a tremendous amount of poise that will hopefully help our defense core out a bit. We had a great offseason, checked all of the boxes. Now its time to put up some wins and get this franchise back to the pride-filled winning seasons we once enjoyed." said GM Nagle

Another notable move this offseason was the drafting of hot-headed hell on skates forward Theoren Fleury with their fourth overall pick. The speedy 18 year old brings a whole host of offensive tools to his game, and his physical "in your face" playstyle lends well to the character that the Royals are building as a team. Fleury is not expected to see any playing time in Riverview this season as he finds his pro legs in Loggieville.