Comrie Traded, Heading Home to Edmonton

Mike Comrie is heading home to Edmonton after being traded to the Oilers.  He was offered a one-year deal worth $1.125.

You might remember that Comrie was originally drafted by the Oilers in 1999 and he really had a golden career with the team from 2000-2003.  During the 2001-2002 season, he had a career-high of 60 points and then things went terribly wrong.

Comrie had been given a $10 million entry-level deal with the team (which included a signing bonus) and, for whatever reason, he held out in a contract dispute for 30 games during the 2003-2004 season and the fans really turned on him (with good reason, in my opinion).  I know he was doing well but he was still so new to the game that it was a bit surprising that he chose to go down this path. 

It looked like a solution had been found when the Anaheim Ducks were willing to acquire Comrie in exchange for Corey Perry and a first round draft pick but Comrie didn’t want to reimburse $2.5 million in bonus money so the deal fell through and he ended up getting traded to Phoenix.

"I had to make a decision on some of the options I had,"Comrie said. "This was the one that felt right. I got chills walking back into this rink. It’s been a while since I had a feeling like that."

Hopefully, the Oilers fans will be able to move past the bad blood and give him a second chance.  He’s an Edmontonian and, even though I’m a Calgary Flames fan, I’m happy for the Oilers.  I think this, along with the other deals they’ve made this summer, is the start of a better season for them.  I’m looking forward to seeing Comrie in the all of the upcoming games in the Battle of Alberta!

image: TSN