PORTLAND -- Eric Weinrich faced a bit of uncertainty this summer about the future of his hockey career. He knew he would fit into the Portland Pirates' plans somewhere, and in recent months he continued to train as if he was preparing for another season.

Now he has answers: The 40-year-old defenseman will return to the Pirates as a player in the 2007-08 season.

Both the Pirates and their NHL parent, the Anaheim Ducks, confirmed his return on Tuesday. Weinrich said he is waiting for an American Hockey League contract to arrive at his Yarmouth home.

"I signed a faxed copy (of the contract) in order to get my insurance going again," Weinrich said Tuesday. "As soon as I get a hard copy of the contract, it will be 100 percent official."

Weinrich, who starred at North Yarmouth Academy and the University of Maine, played 18 years in the NHL with eight teams before retiring after the 2005-06 season.

He turned to coaching soon afterward, starting last season as an assistant coach with the Pirates. But in January, he signed a 25-game professional tryout contract after citing his desire to continue his playing career. It was a convenient move; he turned down a contract with the Calgary Flames during the summer of 2006 because he didn't want to relocate his family.

In 36 games with the Pirates last season Weinrich just scored two goals and added 14 assists, but made an impact on the Pirates' defensive corps.

"This is another year for me to stay in the game as a player," Weinrich said. "One of my thoughts was that even though I played a few years in the NHL, it would be really neat to play in my hometown and for a local team. I never thought this would be the opportunity to do it."

Pirates CEO Brian Petrovek said that Weinrich's influence on the younger defensive players was critical in their development, particularly upon Brian Salcido, who emerged as a two-way defenseman for the Pirates last season.

"When he left the bench and went back on the ice as a player, he was coaching as he was playing," Petrovek said of Weinrich.

The Ducks' management, it seems, agrees.

"They said they were happy with the way I meshed with the young guys, especially with the defensemen," Weinrich said. "I guess it doesn't hurt to have a guy with experience."

Weinrich, 40, was born in Roanoke, Va., but grew up in Gardiner. In 1,157 NHL games, he scored 70 goals and 318 assists, and finished with a plus-minus rating (on the ice when a goal is scored) of plus-130, including a career high plus-27 in 2001-02 with the Philadelphia Flyers. Weinrich also played in nine world championships with Team USA. He was a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team before turning pro.

NYA retired his uniform number (7) in 2004.

Because Weinrich will be under an AHL contract, he does not have to report to the Ducks' training camp, which begins Sept. 10 in Anaheim, Calif.

Instead, he will join the Pirates when they kick off training camp Sept. 24 in Portland -- and he gets a chance to be at home when his children, Ben and Emily, begin the school year.

"I think all along I was hoping Anaheim would agree to something like this," Weinrich said. "But there was a thought that maybe I wouldn't be there. But I trained to be a player, and if I wasn't doing this for this year, I don't know what I would be doing."