Winnipeg Jets: Will Eric Comrie ever become our goaltender?

The Winnipeg Jets have had some pretty solid goaltending this year from Connor Hellebuyck. He’s kept them in games, and has won games almost entirely by himself. Our issue has been inconsistent goaltending from our backup, Steve Mason.

It feels like Eric Comrie has been with the Winnipeg Jets for a long time. He was drafted only four years ago, which isn’t as long as we think. Him and Hellebuyck are supposed to be the 1-2 goalie duo. Comrie has been started in the NHL already, but hasn’t shown any signs of being able to stick.

How Comrie looked with the Jets

Comrie was anything but good. In his two games, he had a goals against average of 4.54. He had a save percentage of .878, and wasn’t making enough saves. Eric did however win one of those games, but his stats were so bad that the win couldn’t make up for them. He clearly looked like he belonged in the AHL.

Too quick to judge?

Could we be a bit too quick to judge? After all he’s only played in two games. He’s also still only 22, which means he has a ton of time to continue developing. Unlike a normal player who should be in the NHL by 22, goalies take far longer to become an NHL starter.

Comrie in my opinion is really good. He just hasn’t been successful in Winnipeg yet, which leads fans to believe he’ll never become what they wanted him to. When we start to get good in the next few years, we could completely flip our former goaltending problems the other way. We had no hope, and now teams will fear our crease. With Hellebuyck who has proven himself enough to be part of the All Star game, we’re set. Now we also have Comrie who’s hopefully going to be able to come in like Hellebuyck once did.

Manitoba Moose this season

Comrie has been fairly average this season. A par save percentage of .912 hasn’t made him standout like fellow Moose goalie, Michael Hutchinson. Comrie has gone under the radar this season which doesn’t reassure fans about our highly touted prospect.

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I say that if we give Comrie at least another year or two, he’s set to be good. My only question for the Winnipeg Jets is: Do they want two solid goalies? Might it make more sense to deal one off for assets? All I know is that it’s not a band problem to have, and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.