On the first day of free agency, the Winnipeg Jets have brought back a familiar face.
Eric Comrie signed a two-year contract with an average annual value of $825,000 and for the 28-year-old it was a no-brainer to come back to the Manitoba capital.
“I think that’s where myself, Ray (Petkau), my agent, my wife and our family wanted to go. I think we just have a lot of connections there,” said Comrie.
“A lot of good friends and I think that was the best spot for myself to continue my career.”
Comrie’s career took him to Buffalo in July of 2022, when he signed a two-year deal with the Sabres. Comrie went 11-16-1 with a 3.68 goals against average.
“It was good. The guys there were unbelievable. We had a really close group; we had a lot of fun. I loved being there. It was just unfortunate the way things happened there with me the first year. I was playing a lot and then I tear my MCL, and I think things kind of went downhill from there,” said Comrie.
“It was unfortunate. I wasn’t fully 100% ready to play and then it was just a couple of bad circumstances that came up and it was unfortunate the way it worked out. But I was happy with the opportunity and happy to be back in Winnipeg now.”
Comrie is the Manitoba Moose franchise leader in games played, wins and saves. He went 12-8-1 with a 2.94 goals against average and one shutout over four seasons with the Jets. Comrie will likely feel like he never left when he walks back into the dressing room.
“I really, really think so. I have a lot of great relationships with a lot of guys on the team. I’m really close with a lot of them. We stay in contact; we’ve never really broken contact. It’s been a lot of fun,” said Comrie.
“Scheif and I are like really close, we talk all the time, we text almost every single day. I see him in the summer quite a bit and Josh Morrissey and I are once again, really good friends. I know so many guys on the team, it’s just fantastic.”
The Edmonton native said not much has changed with him since he left Winnipeg outside of, he’s a little bit older and he’s a dad now. His wife, Haley, gave birth to a daughter seven months ago.
“She’s awesome,” said Comrie.
“She’s great.”
Obviously, his daughter will be keeping him busy this summer and getting ready for another tour of duty.
“I don’t know if you really relax in July and August. I think it’s more nose to the grindstone, getting to work and just making sure you’re ready for the first day of camp. I think it’s just making sure you’re dialed in, and your nutrition is dialed in,” said Comrie.
“So, you’re starting to ramp up on ice, ramp up off the ice and I think this is when you kind of make that push and I think where you lead up to the success for the season starts really in those couple of months before it.”
