Happy to be back with Stars, 'excited' Comeau has Stanley Cup dreams

Blake Comeau is a good fit in Dallas, and Dallas is a great fit for Blake Comeau.
The Stars on Monday
announced they have signed the 35-year-old forward to a one-year contract extension
for $1 million, and both sides said they were thrilled with the decision.

BLAKE'S BACK: [Comeau signs one-year, $1 million contract to return to Stars for 2021-22 season]
Comeau, who was coming off a three-year contract that averaged $2.4 million, could have become an unrestricted free agent on July 28. However, instead of testing the market and looking for a new home, he decided it was best for him to stay with the Stars.
"When I sat down and was talking with my wife, first and foremost, any decision I make is what's best for my family, and I feel like being in Dallas the last three years and having three little girls -- my oldest is going into Grade 2 and my middle is going into kindergarten -- we have a lot of roots planted here in Dallas," Comeau said. "We love the city, we love the people, we've made a lot of friends outside of hockey through their school and I just know that my family is happy here and that was important to making my decision."
He added that he's also helped build a team that he believes can contend for a Stanley Cup, and he wants to try to finish that job.

"On the hockey side of it, I think we have a really good chance to win a Stanley Cup here and I'm excited to be a part of the team when we have a fully healthy lineup to start the season," he added. "It's just a great hockey city, we've got a great fanbase, and I was excited I was wanted back here for another year. The decision wasn't hard."
Stars general manager Jim Nill said the decision wasn't hard for him, either. He said bringing back a leader like Comeau, who is an alternate captain and a key contributor, at a discount makes sense in a lot of ways.
"He's a very good player. He's a right shot, he's a leader in our dressing room, he's smart," Nill said. "When you weigh what might be out there in free agency, and for what we were able to agree on, he's a great fit financially. I think both sides are happy and that's why we were able to get this done."
Comeau averaged 15:44 a game in ice time, eighth among forwards, last season. He was seventh among forwards in scoring with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 51 games and finished minus-13, second worst on the team. It was a down year for him statistically, and he said one of his goals is adding more offense if he can.
"Offensively, I would like to be able to contribute a little more," he said. "You look at the teams that are still in the playoffs, I feel that their bottom six, they have a specific role that they need to fill. When you look at the playoffs, you get some timely scoring from their bottom-six guys and you've got guys who can contribute in different ways. That's something I would like to work on, hopefully get back to the numbers that I was at when I was in Colorado."
Comeau in 2017-18 had 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 79 games for the Avalanche. That was a few years back, and Comeau said he has to concentrate on the key defensive areas, but added that he believes the Stars as a team can increase their goal production with the return to health of players like Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, Joel Kiviranta and Roope Hintz.
"I felt this year we grinded really hard, I thought we did a lot of good things, it's just hard to fill out those guys' shoes -- Bish, Seggy, Rads, Roope missed some time and had a bad leg, Kivi broke his foot and missed a lot of time. So you add all of those guys in, and they make a huge difference," Comeau said.
"I'm excited to have everybody healthy and to come into camp with our full team. If you look at the playoffs this year, a lot of teams that have played well and gone far, they play a structured and well-rounded defensive game. Obviously, they have talent and players who can put the puck in the net, and I felt last year that we were missing some of our key game-breakers. I think we've got a really good team when we're healthy. I think we play the right way, we play hard, we've got a lot of talent up front, we've got great goaltending, great defense, and I think when we're a fully healthy team we're going to be a Cup contender."

Coach Rick Bowness said he believes Comeau can be a big part of that team.
"You need your leadership group to be an extension of the coaches' voices and Blake is a big part of that," Bowness said. "We have full confidence in him. You watch him play and it's all out every shift, and that's leadership right there."
As for whether or not Comeau might see his time on ice diminish as he ages, both Bowness and Nill said that will be determined by performance. Last season, young players such as Hintz, Jason Robertson and Denis Gurianov saw their ice time increase. Next season, the push could come from forwards such as Ty Dellandrea, Riley Damiani or Nick Caamano among others.
"Blake can play that, but I think that will be determined as we go on," Nill said. "It adds another element to the competition and then the players will battle it out. He's in great condition and is a professional through and through, so then the season will settle that. We believe he can play those minutes or we believe if someone else steps up, he can be effective with whatever minutes he plays.Would we like to see some young kids step up? I think it'll be a great competition."
While Bowness added there's plenty of time to figure things out.
"We don't have to predetermine anything," Bowness said. "We'll get to camp and we'll work it out -- and then we'll work it out as the season goes on. It's a process and we have to adjust to everything. My guess is he'll be competing very hard out there."
Which is what he has done throughout the 903 games of his NHL career so far. That kind of experience has been key for a lot of teams who make it pretty far in the post-season.
"I definitely think we have seen in recent playoffs that having veterans is important," Nill said. "They know how to win, they know how to adjust. When things aren't going your way, they know how to calm every down. We know where the core of our group is, and now we need to fill in around it, and Blake Comeau is a big part of that."

While Nill said he did not have an eye on next month's expansion draft in making this decision, re-signing Comeau does give the Stars the needed amount of forwards to expose to Seattle on July 21. There's a very good chance Comeau isn't taken because he is older and on a one-year deal, but he will be exposed and that means Dallas doesn't have to worry about making any other signings.
The Stars signed Tanner Kero earlier in the off-season, and he also will be exposed.
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.