Bob Hunter commentary: Jackets should recognize what they have in Richards
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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
Todd Richards is the fourth coach the Blue Jackets have had since the start of February 2010, and the interim tag he wears doesn’t scream job security. It also doesn’t bode well for a team that seems trapped in a never-ending search for an identity.
Games like the team’s 5-3 home loss to Anaheim last night don’t help much, either. With the Jackets coming off three victories in four games, the fans’ hope was that this beleaguered outfit had finally turned the corner, that goaltender Steve Mason had finally rediscovered his game and the defense was going to play well in front of him. So much for that.
Still, it’s hard to judge the interim coach of an injury-riddled team whose season already was in the trash bin when he took over, especially on nights when the goaltending is mediocre at best. Last night’s loss wasn’t coaching any more than it was Saturday night, when Mason played well and the Jackets won 3-1 at Minnesota. Evaluate this stuff at your own risk.
The succession of coaches is a little easier to judge. There’s no sense revisiting the decision to fire Ken Hitchcock, the fateful move that started the coaching parade. But it might be instructive to take another look at where the Jackets went from there, choosing not to hire that season’s interim — current Winnipeg coach Claude Noel — and bringing in Scott Arniel instead.
Noel had had some success in the 24 games he coached — the Jackets were 10-8-6 — and he could have given general manager Scott Howson the more up-tempo style he wanted without bringing in another new coach and staff. His Jets are 26-25-6; if he had been hired, he might still be here.
“I would have liked to have been given the opportunity to keep the job because I felt like I had a leg up on that situation,” Noel said in November. “I knew the situation deeply, to its core. They felt that would be a disadvantage. It came up three or four times in my interviews, and I disagreed every time. I still disagree. I knew that team.”
The current team might look vastly different next season, but a good case can be made that bringing Richards back would be a wise move. The team is 5-9-1 since he took over, but again, that’s not particularly instructive. He has handled the situation about as well as anyone could given the circumstances, and he might soon be coaching a team that has sent some of its best players to the far corners of the NHL.
Before that happens, it’s worth noting that the Jackets have played better under Richards than they did Arniel, even if the record isn’t dazzling. Richards coached the Minnesota Wild for two years (77-71-16), so he has more NHL experience than some of the coaches the Jackets might hire.
“I really enjoy the atmosphere around the team, the way he coaches,” center Derick Brassard said. “The way he deals with every player. He makes every player accountable. I think that’s the main thing I’ve noticed. Whether you’re a first-line guy or a fourth-line guy, he treats everyone the same way. I think that’s a good thing.”
This isn’t surprising. Brassard was scratched repeatedly by Arniel and seemed certain to be traded. He has repaid Richards for his confidence with his play and his energy; last night, he even squared off with Lubomir Visnovsky for the fourth fight of his NHL career.
Although you can quibble with some of Richards’ decisions — scratching rookie Ryan Johansen four consecutive games, for example — that’s the case with every coach, and it will be with whomever replaces him.
At this point, some coaching stability wouldn’t be a bad thing. There’s no guarantee that the fifth coach in 2½ years is going to be better than the one the Jackets already have.
“It’s a process, it takes time,” forward Vinny Prospal said. “I guess the right word is patience. It’s something in our sport or any business, you’re not going to change the culture overnight.”
Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.
bhunter@dispatch.com
