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Puck Rakers
A blog about the Blue Jackets and the NHL
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
TOP GAMES
RED WINGS 4, FLYERS 3
Detroit ties NHL record with 20th consecutive home victory
Johan Franzen broke a tie 52 seconds into the third period as Detroit defeated Philadelphia last night to tie an NHL record with its 20th consecutive home victory.
Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and two assists and defenseman Niklas Kronwall and Pavel Datsyuk also scored for Detroit, which equaled the league record for consecutive home victories held by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins and 1975-76 Flyers.
Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom had an assist in his 1,550th game, the most by an NHL player who spent his career with one team, and second on the franchise list.
BLUE 3, SHARKS 0
Halak racks up sixth shutout
Jaroslav Halak stopped all 25 shots he faced and earned his sixth shutout in just 10 starts, leading St. Louis to another home victory.
David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo scored with a two-man advantage and Andy McDonald had an assist in his return from a concussion that had kept him out for 51 games.
The Blues extended a franchise record by earning at least a point in 19 consecutive home games. They are 16-0-3 at home since a loss to Chicago on Dec. 3, and are an NHL-best 24-3-4 overall, topping their total of 23 victories last season.
The Sharks, who lead the Pacific Division, came up empty in the opener of a season-long, nine-game trip.
OTHER GAMES
• Rangers 3, Capitals 2: Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh broke a second-period tie to lift New York.
Brandon Prust ended a 48-game drought with a short-handed goal in the third for the Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist of New York did the rest, making 24 saves to earn his second victory in two days.
• Panthers 4, Islanders 1: Kris Versteeg and Tomas Fleischmann each had a goal and an assist and Jose Theodore made 26 saves in his first appearance since Jan. 20 after suffering a knee injury to power Florida. Making his fourth start in six days, Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov made only 11 saves on 15 shots before being lifted for Al Montoya. Nabokov entered the game having allowed only five goals on 135 shots in five games since the All-Star break.
• Kings 4, Stars 2: Jordan Nolan and Dwight King, called up from the minors on Feb. 10, got their first career goals to lead Los Angeles, which went 2-3-1 on a six-game road swing.
• Penguins 4, Lightning 2: Evgeni Malkin continued his torrid play, scoring his 31st and 32nd goals of the season as Pittsburgh won its sixth straight at home. Steve Downie scored twice in an 11-second span in the first period for Tampa Bay
NOTABLE
• Red Wings’ Howard on mend: Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard faced live shots for the second straight day as he recovers from a broken index finger on his blocker-side hand. Howard, who has a league-high 32 victories, is seeking to return on Friday against Nashville. He hasn’t played since Feb. 2, and Detroit is 3-2 in that span.
— From wire reports
