Blue Jackets notebook: Methot has tough road ahead with broken jaw
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Puck Rakers
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One Signed, Two Set Free
The Blue Jackets have agreed to terms with defenseman Austin Madaisky on a three-year, entry-level contract, and the official deal should be announced shortly. Madaisky was a fifth-round pick (No. 124 overall) in the 2010 NHL entry draft.
Two other picks - right winger Petr Straka (2nd round, No. 55) and defenseman Brandon Archibald (4th round, No. 94) - have been informed by the Blue Jackets that they won't be signed, sending them back in the pool of draftable players for next month's draft in Pittsburgh.
Of those two, Straka is the mild surprise.
He had 28-36-64 in 62 games with Rimouski (QMJHL) during his draft year, but tailed off badly the last two seasons. In 2010-11, he had 10-15-25 in 41 games. This season, he had 18-19-37 in 54 games. That's fewer points the last two seasons -- 62 in 95 games -- than he scored as a 17-year-old.
However, Straka made a pretty good last-best argument for a deal with his performance in the QMJHL playoffs. He had 10-12-22 in 21 games, becoming a point-a-game player once again. The bet here is that he gets drafted his June, but certainly on Saturday (2nd through 7th rounds) and probably later in the day.
The Blue Jackets acquired the pick used on Straka with the 2010 trade deadline deal that sent winger Raffi Torres to Buffalo.
Madaisky, meanwhile, blossomed this season in his fourth year of juniors, the last three spent with Kamloops (WHL). He had 13 goals, 37 assists, 50 points and a plus-20 rating, all career highs. He also had 87 penalty minutes. He could play a fifth year of junior next season, or begin his pro career, likely with AHL Springfield.
Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson and the hockey operations department face one last difficult decision as it pertains to the 2010 draft class. Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil remains unsigned, and the Jackets still aren't sure if they want to keep him in the fold.
"We'll evaluate him in the Memorial Cup and make a decision," Howson said. "Not sure right now."
Corbeil is 50-11-2 in the last two seasons with Saint John of the QMJHL, which won the Memorial Cup last season and is a favorite to repeat. Corbeil, named the QMJHL's goalie of the year, is 16-0-1 in this year's playoffs, with a 2.18 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.
Those numbers will cause many readers to scratch their temples and wonder: "How could they possibly not want this guy?" What the Blue Jackets are trying to determine is if Corbeil is a product of a powerhouse hockey club or a goaltender with legitimiate NHL potential. These are the questions that keep scouts up late at night.
Two weeks ago, the Blue Jackets seemed to be leaning away from signing Corbeil. These days it seems to be leaning back the other direction, though no decision has been made.
-- Aaron Portzline
twitter: @aportzline
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Through his teeth and under the haze of liquid Percocet, Blue Jackets defenseman Marc Methot spoke yesterday for the first time since he was struck in the face by a puck during Thursday’s loss to Dallas.
“I just remember the weird feeling of it,” Methot said. “I could feel the crack (of the bone) and I knew something bad happened.
“The last thing I saw was the puck coming right at my face, and it was just a natural reaction to protect myself, I guess. I had just enough time to react and turn my head to the side.”
Methot broke his jaw in two places, and one of the bones was displaced. “It got twisted around from the force of the puck,” he said.
He had surgery on Friday at Riverside Methodist Hospital, during which two titanium plates were used to stabilize the area.
“I’m like the Wolverine,” he said, referring to the comic book character.
The worst part of the ordeal, Methot said, is what lies ahead: His jaw will be wired shut for up to five weeks, preventing him from eating solid foods.
His mother, Betty, an emergency room nurse before she retired, made plans to travel to Columbus the moment she saw her son get injured.
“How lucky am I to have my mom here?” Methot said. “She went grocery shopping today for me. I think she bought every form of juice and ‘shakey’ (drink) you can possibly make, just to get me started.
“I’m used to a 3,500-calorie diet, so this is going to be a challenge.”
Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard, a close friend of Methot’s, can empathize. In 2007-08, Brassard suffered a broken jaw when he was struck by a puck in practice.
“I’ve had two shoulder surgeries,” Brassard said. “But that was the worst, the very worst recovery I ever went through.”
The Blue Jackets have hinted strongly that Methot is likely to be out for the rest of the season. With less than two months to go, and with Methot off solid foods for up to five weeks, that’s almost a certainty.
“It’s too soon to say,” Methot said. “I’d like to think there’s a chance, but we’ll see.”
Methot joined Twitter a few days before the injury. The ability to interact with fans, he said, has been a huge boost.
“The support from my teammates, the organization and the fans — oh, man, the fans have been great, it’s been really overwhelming,” he said.
One tough Duck
Tonight’s opponent, Anaheim, is one of two clubs the Blue Jackets have defeated twice this season. Calgary is the other.
But the Jackets haven’t figured out a way to stop Teemu Selanne, the Ducks’ future Hall of Famer.
Selanne, 41, has four goals in the three meetings this season, and he has 21 goals and 40 points in 35 career games against Columbus.
Slap shot
Defenseman Dalton Prout, recalled from minor-league Springfield on Friday, was a healthy scratch last night vs. Minnesota. He was the odd man out when James Wisniewski was cleared to return from a fractured ankle.
aportzline@dispatch.com
