While plenty of NHL teams went deep sea fishing on Monday, the Winnipeg Jets stayed close to shore and barely dipped their toes into the free agent waters.
Consider this: On a record-setting day when the other 31 clubs combined for more than $1.1 billion in new contracts, the Jets reeled in a depth defenceman and two goaltenders to compete for the backup spot: D Colin Miller (two years, US $1.5 million per season), G Eric Comrie (two years, US $825,000 per season) and G Kaapo Kahkonen (one year, US $1 million).
Not exactly the July 1 “frenzy” that many other markets experienced.
Former Buffalo Sabres goaltender Eric Comrie is back with the Winnipeg Jets after signing a two-year deal. (Jeffrey T. Barnes / The Associated Press files)
“For us, we’re sitting here on July 1 and there’s a little ways to training camp and there’s lots of different thought processes that we’ll certainly take a look at,” said general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who added he still had a “few other things on the go” which might pan out.
One of those is believed to be interest in veteran centre Adam Henrique, who joined the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline but was not re-signed. The Jets have a glaring need up the middle that he could help fill.
The biggest storyline around the Jets Monday wasn’t what they added, but what they lost, as four UFA skaters who were part of last year’s 110-point team quickly found new homes.
Second-line centre Sean Monahan, obtained prior to last year’s trade deadline for a first-round draft pick, signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets for five years at US $5.5 million per season. The Jets were in the bidding right up until the final moments.
“I had a great time in Winnipeg. Some great friendships. It was a brief stint and definitely something I was trying to decide on,” Monahan told the Free Press in a Zoom interview. “It was not an easy decision.”
Monahan, 29, said it came down to family and wanting to play in the Eastern Conference and re-unite with former Calgary Flames teammate Johnny Gaudreau. His wife, who is great friends with Gaudreau’s spouse, just gave birth to their first child a month ago.
Goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who excelled as Hellebuyck’s backup last year and essentially priced himself out of Winnipeg, inked a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks for two years at US $3.3 million, where he’ll get a chance to perhaps be the No. 1 behind Connor Bedard and company.
“It was not an easy decision.”–Sean Monahan
Rugged defenceman Brenden Dillon is now a member of the New Jersey Devils (four years at US $4 million), while trade-deadline addition Tyler Toffoli went to the San Jose Sharks (four years at US $6 million).
The Jets also officially bought out the final year of Nate Schmidt’s contract on Monday, making him an unrestricted free agent and clearing yet another spot on the blue-line.
“Obviously it was a tough decision, but we wanted to open up some opportunities within the organization for some of the players that have been here more,” said Cheveldayoff.
“But even more so I didn’t want to have to put Nate through the situation where if he’s a veteran guy that’s getting scratched, it just wasn’t right. So we talked about it and that’s why we as a group, including talking to Nate’s representatives, made that decision.”
The lack of activity, at least so far, would appear to be good news for promising prospects such as Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, Ville Heinola, Elias Salomonsson and Simon Lundmark.
“If I’m a young player in the Jets organization today, I’m pretty excited about the opportunities that are in front of me and I’m working pretty hard in the offseason to make sure that I take full advantage,” said Cheveldayoff.
Another option to boost the roster could be finding a team that blew its budget and now is in a world of hurt when it comes to complying with the US $88-million salary cap and needs to shed a player or two at a discount rate.
Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen signed a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets that pays him US $1 million. (John Woods / Canadian Press files)
Winnipeg currently has more than US $9 million of cap space available, although some of that will be taken up with new contracts needed for restricted free agents Heinola, Cole Perfetti, David Gustafsson and Logan Stanley.
“I can guarantee you, because I’ve been on the other side, as exhilarating as it can be to be make some of those deals, sometimes you wake up the next morning and kind of wonder what did I just do,” said Cheveldayoff.
“The one thing about free agency is that it doesn’t just stop on free agency day. Once the dust settles, you go through the different teams and you may find some needs for trades or different things of the like in some organizations. We’ll take a look at all of that.”
As for the three players Winnipeg inked, two are familiar faces.
Miller, 31, was obtained at the trade deadline last year from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round draft pick, but barely played under then head coach Rick Bowness (five regular-season games and one playoff game). The right-hander will get a bigger chance under new bench boss Scott Arniel.
Comrie, 28, is back for a fourth stint with the organization that drafted him 59th-overall in 2013.
“I love everything about Winnipeg, I love the guys and it always feel special back there because I’ve had such great fond memories being there for a long time.”–Eric Comrie
“I love everything about Winnipeg, I love the guys and it always feel special back there because I’ve had such great fond memories being there for a long time,” Comrie, 28, said in a phone interview. “An unbelievable organization, they treat their players as good as any team I’ve been on, and I’ve been on a few so I know how well they treat their guys.”
Comrie has 57 games of NHL experience with a 24-26-2 record, 3.38 goals-against-average and .893 save-percentage. His best season in the big leagues came in 2021-22 with the Jets, when he appeared in 19 games with a 10-5-1 record, 2.58 GAA and .920 SV%.
“I just have a very good working relationship with Helly. I think myself and him get along really well, and he’s the best in the world, so it’s amazing to learn from him, watching him every single game and in practice,” said Comrie, who spent the past two years with the Buffalo Sabres bouncing between the NHL and AHL.
“And they have one of the best goalie coaches in the world, if not the best (Wade Flaherty). He’s unbelievable at what he does. How much my game grows when I’m with him and how sharp he keeps my game, it doesn’t matter how much you’re playing or when you’re playing, he knows how to keep goalies ready to go and keep them sharp.”
Kahkonen, 27, was drafted by the Minnesota Wild and split last season with the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils. He has appeared in 139 NHL games in his career and has a 49-67-15 record, 3.33 goals-against average, and .899 save percentage.
Thomas Milic had a terrific rookie season with the Manitoba Moose, so the organization wants a more veteran presence to work with him. Whether that’s Comrie or Kahkonen remains to be seen.
The Winnipeg obtained Colin Miller at the trade deadline last year from the New Jersey Devils but he only appeared in five regular-season games and one playoff game for the Jets. (Fred Greenslade / Canadian Press files)
“Obviously you’ve got to go to camp and earn a job and that’s my main thing, to go there and earn a job and just work as hard as I can and try and secure that position,” said Comrie.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
X: @mikemcintyrewpg
Mike McIntyre Sports reporter
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
