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Eric Comrie

Red Wings Acquire Eric Comrie

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With Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta entrenched as the one-two punch in Arizona, it was only a matter of time before goalie Eric Comrie was on the move again.  That trade has now occurred with the Coyotes announcing that they’ve dealt him to the Red Wings in exchange for defenseman Vili Saarijarvi.

Comrie joined Arizona via waiver claim at the beginning of the season with Raanta unavailable to play.  However, he didn’t dress for them upon his return so he hasn’t played at all in 2019-20 with the exception of a four-game conditioning stint with AHL Tucson where he posted a 2.75 GAA and a .900 SV% in that stretch.  The 24-year-old has a total of five NHL games under his belt from his time with Winnipeg (who drafted him in the second round back in 2013), collecting a 4.21 GAA with a .870 SV%.  He’s in the first season of a two-year deal that carries a $700K cap hit.  It’s a two-way contract this season and converts to a one-way pact for 2020-21.

Comrie will find himself serving a similar role with Detroit.  Jimmy Howard was placed on injured reserve yesterday while Jonathan Bernier was forced to play part of a game despite being quite sick earlier in the week.  With Bernier now healthy, Calvin Pickard will likely return to AHL Grand Rapids and Comrie will serve as the backup until Howard returns at which point he’ll be a third-string option once again.

As for Saarijarvi, he was a 2015 third-round pick of Detroit.  He was an offensive threat at the major junior level with stints in Flint and Mississauga of the OHL but that hasn’t translated to much success in the pros yet.  He has played in 13 AHL games with the Griffins this season, recording just a single assist.  The 22-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level deal and carries a cap hit that’s just under $698K.

Minor Transactions: 11/23/19

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As usual, Saturday is a very busy day on the NHL calendar with 28 teams in action.  There should be plenty of roster movement around the league as a result and we’ll keep tabs on those moves here.

  • The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they have returned defenseman Christian Jaros to Belleville of the AHL. His NHL stint lasted just one day but he did log a little more than ten minutes of ice time on Friday.  It’s expected that Nikita Zaitsev (personal) will be available for their next game on Monday.
  • Joseph Blandisi is back on his way to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, per a Penguins team release. The 25-year-old has a goal and an assist in nine games with Pittsburgh this season but had been a healthy scratch over their past two games.  The Pens are off until Monday so the move may just be to bank a little bit of cap space as well.
  • The Red Wings announced that they’ve assigned defenseman Joe Hicketts to AHL Grand Rapids.  The 23-year-old has played in six games with Detroit this season, logging a little over 18 minutes per night.  Although he has been productive in the minors (nine assists in 11 games), that didn’t translate to the big club as he has just a pair of NHL helpers on the season.
  • Eric Comrie is back with the Coyotes who announced that they’ve recalled the goalie from his conditioning stint.  He got into four games with the Roadrunners, posting a 2.75 GAA and a .900 SV%, but had spent the maximum amount of time possible in the minors and had to be recalled.  Where things go from here is a bit trickier.  He’s waiver-eligible and clearly the third-string option behind Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta.  In the short-term, he’ll likely be spending a lot of time in the press box in Arizona.
  • The Boston Bruins have returned Urho Vaakanainen to the AHL in anticipation of the return of Torey Krug to the lineup on Saturday. Vaakanainen has not done much scoring at either level this season –  scoreless in the NHL and just two assists in the AHL – but he did not look out of place in five games with Boston. The Bruins’ top defensive prospect, Vaakanainen may be developing into more of a smooth-skating puck transition defenseman than an offensive dynamo.
  • The San Jose Sharks have announced that veteran defender Dalton Prout has been placed on injured reserve. Taking his roster spot for the time being is forward Noah Gregor, promoted from the AHL Barracuda. Gregor has yet to record his first NHL point through ten games with the Sharks this season, but has been better than a point-per-game in the minors.
  • The Athletic’s Joe Yerden relays that the Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian has already been activated, while forward Vladimir Sobotka has been placed on LTIR, which puts the Sabres just over $3MM into their LTIR allotment.

Minor Transactions: 11/09/19

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The Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning squared off in Stockholm, Sweden yesterday in the first of their two NHL Global Series games. Yet, the international event was overshadowed by the result of another game between Atlantic Division opponents later in the day. The Detroit Red Wings, keepers of the league’s worst record, knocked off the Boston Bruins in convincing fashion, bumping them from their position as the league’s best record holder in the process. The pair of contests made for a noteworthy day in the NHL, despite just eight teams taking the ice. Buffalo and Tampa are back it today along with 20 other clubs on a busy Saturday. There will be NHL action spanning about 12 hours from start to finish and early indications are that there will be plenty of minor moves to accompany the action. Keep up with those transactions here:

  • Alex Lintuniemi didn’t engage in contract termination talks with the Carolina Hurricanes without a plan in place. Less than 24 hours after clearing unconditional waivers, the Finnish defenseman has found a new home. The Lahti Pelicans of the Liiga have announced a one-year contract with Lintuniemi. While the 2014 second-round pick never panned out in North America, Lintuniemi and his physical, two-way game will undoubtedly provide a major boost for the Pelicans, one of the weakest teams in Finland’s top league.
  • Mired in an injury-driven slump, the Colorado Avalanche are trying to shake things up to find a way out of their current struggles. The AHL Eagles announced that their parent club has recalled veteran forward Jayson Megna. Megna, 29, has over 100 games of NHL experience, but 58 of them came in one season with the Vancouver Canucks. Otherwise, he has never played in more than a dozen games at the top level in one season. Yet, in his first year with Colorado, he has already played in four games with the Avs through the first month of the season and could be suiting up for this fifth on Saturday. Although, it’s worth noting that he has been held scoreless thus far and could be sent back down after another unproductive appearance.
  • Colin White’s conditioning stint in the minors didn’t last long. The Ottawa Senators sent the Boston College product down to AHL Belleville on Thursday, allowed him to play for the team last night (he recorded two assists), and have now called him back up this morning. White has just two points in eight games so far this season, a far cry from his near 50-point pace from last season, and the Senators hope that he can get going as soon as possible.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced that they have assigned goaltender Eric Comrie to Tucson of the AHL on a conditioning stint.  Comrie was claimed off waivers at the start of the season with Antti Raanta not available to start the year but has since served as their third-stringer and as a result, he has yet to play so far this season.  Conditioning stints can only last up to two weeks so this won’t clear up the logjam for very long but it will at least give him a chance to work off some of the rust.  Comrie will count against Arizona’s 23-man NHL roster while on this assignment.
  • After carrying just six defensemen following the injury to Josh Manson, the Anaheim Ducks have recalled blueliner Simon Benoit from San Diego of the AHL, reports Elliott Teaford of The Athletic.  Benoit is in his second professional season but the first of his entry-level deal after he signed back in March.  This will be his first stint at the NHL level.
  • CapFriendly reports that the San Jose Sharks have assigned forward Lean Bergmann to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. The 21-year-0ld forward, who signed out of Germany in the offseason, was recalled on Nov. 4 and played in two games for the Sharks, but he averaged just 7:41 in ATOI over those two games and had a minus-two rating against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. He has one assist in eight games.
  • The New York Islanders announced they have assigned forwards Otto Koivula and Cole Bardreau to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. The 21-year-old Koivula has been up and down the last week, but still has yet to make an appearance for the Islanders. He has two goals and two assists in eight games with Bridgeport. The 26-year-old Bardreau has fared well in his NHL debut this season. He has now appeared in nine games for the Islanders this year with a goal and an assist and 15 hits.

League Notes: Waiver Priority, Power Play, AHL Trades

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November 1st marks an important day on the NHL calendar, but one many may not be aware of. Fortunately, CapFriendly is here for the reminder. This day marks the official change over to the waiver priority by current NHL standings. In the first month of the season, as the sample size is too small to truly judge the weak from the strong in many cases, the league uses the reverse order of the prior year’s regular season standings as the waiver priority for all of October. Up until now, the Ottawa Senators have had the first chance at available players on waivers, followed by the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, and all the way to the Tampa Bay Lighting. But as of today, the top priority goes to… well, the Kings, who move up just one spot. The Senators slide back to third, with the Minnesota Wild occupying the second position. As of right now, it is the Boston Bruins who have the very last opportunity to claim a player on waivers. Waiver priority will now change constantly based on the reverse order of the league standings by points percentage.

However, at the current rate, waiver priority won’t matter too much this season. The Winnipeg Jets, who have occupied the 22nd waiver priority spot until today, have claimed defensemen Carl Dahlstrom and Luca Sbisa, and the Arizona Coyotes, who previously held spot No. 14, claimed goaltender Eric Comrie. Those have been the only claims thus far in 2019-20, an unusually low count even this early in the season.

  • The mark of success so far this season? Power play efficiency. As John Dietz of the Chicago Daily Herald points out, there is no stronger correlation between wins and losses this year than how a team performs man-up. The top six teams in power play percentage are all also among the top nine in points percentage. This includes the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres at No. 1 and 2 in both statistics. Down at the bottom, five of the six worst power play teams are among the bottom the eight teams in points percentage. The only outlier appears to be the Anaheim Ducks, who have managed to overcome a 29th-ranked power play thus far to get off to an 8-6-0 start. As the skill level in the NHL improves each year and the game becomes more about using space to create offense, it only makes sense that man-up efficiency will matter more and more, with the start to this season as the perfect example.
  • A strange occurrence early on this season has also been not one, but two AHL trades. AHL trades are extremely rare, as the NHL teams that manage their farm team rosters often lack any incentive to make such a deal. In general, the only motivation to make a deal that solely impacts an AHL squad is to improve depth at a certain position, either to avoid the overexposure of prospects or, later in the year, to give the team a push toward securing a playoff spot. However, even then AHL GM’s tend to eye other players on two-way NHL contracts to swap rather than players on minor league pacts. Not so far this year, though. On Tuesday, the Grand Rapids Griffins acquired forward Marcus Vela from San Jose Barracuda for defenseman Marcus Crawford in a move that wasn’t even about addressing depth, as Vela was immediately reassigned to the ECHL. Just two days later, the San Diego Gulls acquired veteran defenseman Ryan Johnston, a player who had been a healthy scratch for every game so far this season, from the Toronto Marlies for future considerations. Perhaps this is a new trend in organizational roster management or perhaps it is simply a coincidence, but either way it is an intriguing attachment to this young season.

Injury Notes: Larsson, Prout, Raanta

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The Edmonton Oilers have internal options to replace top defender Adam Larsson, who unfortunately suffered a major injury – a fractured fibula – in the very first game of the year. The team has recalled promising prospect Evan Bouchard and could also turn to another prospect in Caleb Jones or veteran Brandon Manning, who both remain with AHL Bakersfield. However, none of those three will be a seamless fit as Larsson’s stand-in and Edmonton will feel his absence even if the rest of their defense corps steps up. Facing a six-to-eight week prognosis, the Oilers may need to look elsewhere if they want to avoid a rocky start through the first two months of the season. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the team is not necessarily looking for a trade already, but is not opposed to going outside the organization to try to replace Larsson. McKenzie opines that a similar defender, one who can log major minutes and play a shutdown role, is not exactly available though. The one name McKenzie mentions as an affordable acquisition is recently-waived veteran Thomas Hickey of the New York Islanders, but McKenzie doubts that Hickey could adequately fill the role left by Larsson and feels his three-year contract is not worth the gamble. It seems the team is most likely going to work with their current group for the time being, with Kris Russell the most likely candidate to move up to the first pair, and will wait to see if an addition is truly needed. Of course, if the Oilers decide to truly try to replace a player of Larsson’s ability via trade, Jesse Puljujarvi remains the organization’s biggest trade chip.

  • Ahead of the San Jose Sharks’ season opener, it seemed that the final blue line spot was a decision between rookie Mario Ferraro and veteran Dalton Prout. However, both defenders ended up playing as Erik Karlsson missed the game for the birth of his child. The decision won’t be very difficult moving forward though. After missing the team’s morning skate, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz has confirmed that Prout is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered in the opener. There is no timeline for his return, meaning Ferraro could have plenty of time to assert himself as a regular member on the San Jose blue line. Additionally, the team has recalled defenseman Jacob Middleton to add some more depth on the back end.
  • It looked like Antti Raanta would be healthy to begin the season for the Arizona Coyotes, but the team opted not to rush him back, likely in light of how Darcy Kuemper played in his stead last season. Raanta began the season on a conditioning stint with AHL Tuscon, but it was unclear if he would actually see action or simply treat the experience like an extended training camp. Wonder no more, as beat writer Alexander Kinkopf reports that Raanta will actually get the call for the Roadrunners in their season opener tonight. Kinkopf relays word from Arizona head coach Rick Tocchet, who says that Raanta wanted to “sharpen his game” with live action before returning to regular NHL duty and he will get that opportunity tonight. It remains unclear how long the Coyotes expect to be without Raanta as he’s on a conditioning stint, but with the recently-extended Kuemper and recently-claimed Eric Comrie in the mix, with a serviceable third-string in Adin Hill around as well, the team may be looking to make a trade from their goalie depth upon Raanta’s return.

Eric Comrie, Carl Dahlstrom Claimed Off Waivers

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A huge number of talented players were on waivers yesterday, but it appears that just two have been claimed. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Arizona Coyotes have claimed goaltender Eric Comrie from the Winnipeg Jets, while Winnipeg themselves have picked up defenseman Carl Dahlstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Comrie, 24, wasn’t the most accomplished goaltender on waivers yesterday, but does perhaps offer the most upside. Originally selected in the second round of the 2013 draft, the former WHL star has steadily improved his game in the minor leagues and posted a .917 save percentage in 47 games with the Manitoba Moose last season. The World Junior gold medalist can help the Coyotes deal with their early goaltending injuries, but it will be interesting to see if he lasts in the NHL long-term on a team that already has Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper locked into the top two spots. Because of that, Winnipeg may get a chance to reclaim him at some point.

Dahlstrom meanwhile may be in a much different situation. The Jets have lost a huge chunk of their defense corps this summer through trade (Jacob Trouba), free agency (Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot) and potential retirement (Dustin Byfuglien), leaving Josh Morrissey and a relatively new cast of characters. Dahlstrom will offer another young option to try out after he played 38 games for the Blackhawks last season. The second-round pick stands 6’4″ 231-lbs, size that many of the Jets’ current defensemen are lacking.

With just the two claims, it means that players like Daniel Sprong, Casey DeSmith, Joshua Ho-Sang, Thomas Hickey and Sven Baertschi can all be assigned to the minor leagues. A setback for all of them as they try to continue their NHL careers.

Training Camp Cuts: 09/30/19

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Teams will be finalizing their opening day rosters today, meaning that plenty of players will be removed from training camp. As always, we’ll keep track of all those cuts right here. Keep checking back as this list will be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Coyotes (per team release)

G Adin Hill (to Tuscon, AHL)

Boston Bruins (per team release)

F Peter Cehlarik (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Anders Bjork (to Providence, AHL)
F Trent Frederic (to Providence, AHL)
F Jack Studnicka (to Providence, AHL)
F Cameron Hughes (to Providence, AHL)
G Maxime Lagace (to Providence, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (per team release)

F Remi Elie (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Curtis Lazar (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Scott Wilson (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Casey Nelson (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Rasmus Asplund (to Rochester, AHL)
F Tage Thompson (to Rochester, AHL)
D Lawrence Pilut (to Rochester, AHL)

Chicago Blackhawks (per team release)

F Anton Wedin (to Rockford, AHL)
D Dennis Gilbert (to Rockford, AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)

F Marko Dano (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Eric Robinson (to Cleveland, AHL)
G Hayden Stewart (released from PTO)

Edmonton Oilers (per team release)

F Sam Gagner (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Brandon Manning (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D William Lagesson (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Los Angeles Kings (per team release)

F Mario Kempe (to Ontario, AHL)
D Paul Ladue (to Ontario, AHL)
D Derek Forbort (designated injured/non-roster)

Minnesota Wild (per team release)

F J.T. Brown (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Louie Belpedio (to Iowa, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Charles Hudon (to Laval, AHL)
G Charlie Lindgren (to Laval, AHL)

New Jersey Devils (per team release)

D Jeremy Groleau (to Binghamton, AHL)

New York Rangers (per team release)

F Boo Nieves (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Filip Chytil (to Hartford, AHL)
F Vitali Kravtsov (to Hartford, AHL)
F Vinni Lettieri (to Hartford, AHL)
D Ryan Lindgren (to Hartford, AHL)
G Igor Shesterkin (to Hartford, AHL)
D Tarmo Reunanen (to Lukko, Liiga)
D Joseph Morrow (released from PTO)

Tampa Bay Lightning (per team release)

D Luke Schenn (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Danick Martel (to Syracuse, AHL)
F Alexander Volkov (to Syracuse, AHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs (per team release)

F Kenny Agostino (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Nic Petan (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Garrett Wilson (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Kevin Gravel (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Kalle Kossila (designated injured, non-roster)
F Mason Marchment (designated injured, non-roster)
F Egor Korshkov (to Toronto, AHL)
F Matt Read (released from PTO, signs AHL contract)

Vancouver Canucks (per team release)

F Sven Baertschi (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Nikolay Goldobin (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Alex Biega (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Vegas Golden Knights (per team release)

F Keegan Kolesar (to Chicago, AHL)
D Jake Bischoff (to Chicago, AHL)

Winnipeg Jets (per team release)

F J.C. Lipon (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Nelson Nogier (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
G Eric Comrie (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Joona Luoto (to Manitoba, AHL)
F C.J. Suess (to Manitoba, AHL)

Washington Capitals (per team release)

F Liam O’Brien (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Michael Sgarbossa (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Christian Djoos (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Shane Gersich (to Hershey, AHL)

Waivers: 09/30/19

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Today is the last day to use waivers in order to get a roster cap compliant for the start of the regular season, so we will see a lot of players available for selection.

Anaheim Ducks

F Daniel Sprong
F Sam Carrick

Boston Bruins

F Peter Cehlarik

Buffalo Sabres

F Remi Elie
F Curtis Lazar
F Scott Wilson
D Casey Nelson

Calgary Flames

F Alan Quine

Carolina Hurricanes

F Clark Bishop
D Gustav Forsling
G Anton Forsberg

Chicago Blackhawks

D Carl Dahlstrom

Colorado Avalanche

F Jayson Megna

Columbus Blue Jackets

F Marko Dano

Edmonton Oilers

F Sam Gagner
D Brandon Manning

Minnesota Wild

F J.T. Brown

Nashville Predators

F Miikka Salomaki
D Steven Santini

New Jersey Devils

D Matt Tennyson

New York Islanders

F Joshua Ho-Sang
F Tanner Fritz
D Thomas Hickey

New York Rangers

F Boo Nieves

Pittsburgh Penguins

G Casey DeSmith

Tampa Bay Lightning

D Luke Schenn

Toronto Maple Leafs

F Kenny Agostino
F Nic Petan
F Garrett Wilson
D Kevin Gravel

Vancouver Canucks

F Sven Baertschi
F Nikolay Goldobin
D Alex Biega

Winnipeg Jets

F J.C. Lipon
D Nelson Nogier
G Eric Comrie

Washington Capitals

F Liam O’Brien
F Michael Sgarbossa
D Christian Djoos

Colorado Avalanche Still Searching For Goalie Help

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The Colorado Avalanche acquired goaltender Antoine Bibeau from the San Jose Sharks on Friday, but that doesn’t mean that they are content with their current depth in net. Adrian Dater of ColoradoHockeyNow.com reports that the team is still looking to make an addition at goalie. He adds that Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry and Winnipeg’s Eric Comrie are the likely targets, either via trade or waivers.

Although the Avs are happy to hand over the reins to Philipp Grubauer as the new starter, there may be some concern about backup Pavel Francouz, who is entering just his second season in North America. However, even if they are comfortable with Francouz – a reigning AHL All-Star with considerable European success on his resume – the AHL options are not all that appealing if an injury were to occur. New addition Bibeau was merely a passable AHL goaltender last season in San Jose, splitting starts evenly with Josef Korenar, who outperformed Bibeau’s .904 save percentage and 2.89 GAA. Even with the uncertainly in net for the Sharks last season, Bibeau did not earn a recall and has not seen any NHL action since 2016-17. The only other keeper under contract for Colorado is off-season signing Adam Werner, who played just one season at the top level in Sweden before making the jump. Werner may need seasoning in the ECHL before he can be asked to be the next man up as an AHL regular.

Both Jarry or Comrie would certainly be an upgrade to the depth in Denver and could push Francouz for backup duties. Both players are expected to hit waivers in the coming days, as their respective teams face a roster crunch with too many goalies to choose from. The Penguins just re-signed backup Casey DeSmith to a three-year extension last year in the midst of a season in which he performed well over a career-high 36 appearances. It carries a relatively affordable $1.25MM cap hit if DeSmith continues to succeed as a reliable understudy to Matt Murray. Jarry, 24, meanwhile struggled in two NHL appearances last year, but did have a good AHL campaign. His $675K contract is also extremely affordable (below the current league minimum on new contracts in fact) and the Avalanche could hope to take advantage of the raw ability that made him a second-round pick in 2013. Comrie, 24, is also a 2013 second-round pick, taken just 15 picks after Jarry. The two also share a common theme of playing well in the minors but squandering their NHL opportunities. In a few brief showings, Comrie has done nothing to show the Jets that he is worthy of backing up Connor Hellebuyck while Laurent Brossoit is still in the mix. Brossoit is an impending free agent, so Winnipeg could be more protective of him, but the odds still favor a waiver placement. Colorado could put a claim in on one of the two should they hit the wire or instead make a preemptive trade. However, that would require the Avs to then carry three goalies or risk losing Francouz on waivers themselves. The team could opt to hope they pass through waivers untouched and then negotiate a trade, allowing them the same flexibility to move them to the AHL, but that’s only if either team is still willing to deal. It’s not a straightforward objective to acquire and retain either young keeper, but it surely is one worth exploring for GM Joe Sakic and company.

Jets Re-Sign Eric Comrie

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The Jets have re-signed one of their remaining restricted free agents though it’s not one of their big two.  Instead, the team announced that they’ve inked goaltender Eric Comrie to a two-year contract.  The deal will carry a league-minimum $700K AAV in both seasons.  2019-20 is a two-way deal worth a guaranteed $250K per Ken Wiebe of The Athletic (Twitter link) before converting to a one-way pact in 2020-21.

Comrie, a second-round pick (59th overall) of Winnipeg back in 2013, has spent the bulk of his pro career at the minor league level.  He played in 47 games with AHL Manitoba last season, posting a 2.69 GAA with a .917 SV% in 47 games, numbers that were pretty close to his ones from 2017-18 (2.58 GAA,  .916 SV%).  However, despite the strong showing, he has yet to get much of a look in the NHL.  He has just five career NHL games under his belt (one came last season) although he hasn’t fared well in that limited action with a 4.20 GAA and a .821 SV%.

Comrie is waiver-eligible for the upcoming season and the fact that he took less than his qualifying offer will make him appealing to any team that wants to take a flyer on him off the waiver wire; it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to pass Laurent Brossoit for the number two role behind Connor Hellebuyck.  With Mikhail Berdin being the only other goalie under contract in the organization at the moment, the Jets will certainly be hoping that Comrie will be able to make it back to the minors for at least one more year.

With the signing, Winnipeg is now down to just two remaining restricted free agents but both of them are significant in wingers Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine.  Getting them re-signed will certainly be the focus for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff over the coming weeks as they’ll need both under contract before they can assess if they’ll have enough cap room to try to make any other moves before the season gets underway.

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