How many starts should Eric Comrie get this season?

Goaltending has been a hot topic for the Winnipeg Jets, but there’s only ever any concern over it when the spring rolls around.

Connor Hellebuyck waltzed to the Vezina Trophy and even won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 2024-25, but his playoff struggles popped up again as he posted a .866 save percentage while the Jets fell in the second round.

For Winnipeg, it all becomes about how best Hellebuyck’s situation can be managed to give him the best chance to shine in the postseason, and a lot of that comes down to how many games backup Eric Comrie can take off his shoulders.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed how best Winnipeg can balance the workload between Hellebuyck and Hutton to best prepare for the playoffs with the Olympics also on Hellebuyck’s plate this winter.

Tyler Yaremchuk: You talked about that playoff series last year between the Jets and the Blues. That Connor Hellebuyck conversation, it’s one of those things that will never go away until they get to a Cup Final and Hellebuyck powers them there. But I wanted to pick your brain a little bit on the topic of goalie usage with this being an Olympic year. For a guy like Hellebuyck, I don’t think that three week gap is going to be him kicking his feet up on a beach in Cabo. So with that in mind, [BLANK] is the ideal number of starts for Eric Comrie this year?

Carter Hutton: I think for me with Comrie and Hellebuyck… I want to see Comrie get into that 26 range to 30 range, which pushes Hellebuyck down into the 55-56, where normally he’s a 60-game goalie. I think if we can get Hellebuyck down into those 55s, low-50s, he’s still busy. That’s still a lot of hockey.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…