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Jean-Yves Ahern | US PRESSWIRE
Canadiens defenseman Hall Gill, left, gets physical with Hurricanes center Jeff Skinner in the second period.
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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 GAME
SHARKS 5, CAPITALS 3
San Jose maintains hold over Washington
Joe Pavelski had two goals and two assists against a goalie playing in the NHL for the first time in nearly a year, helping San Jose defeat Washington last night for the 16th time in the teams’ past 17 meetings.
Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe and Brent Burns also scored on Braden Holtby, who was brought up from Hershey of the American Hockey League yesterday to make a surprise start for Washington — something he hadn’t done since March 2011.
Washington’s No. 1 goalie, Tomas Vokoun, was ill, and backup Michal Neuvirth played on Sunday in a loss at the New York Rangers.
Joe Thornton had three assists for the Pacific Division-leading Sharks, who had lost three of their previous four games.
Washington has won only three of its past 11, a stretch of futility that not only dropped the team out of first place in the Southeast Division but also pushed it below the top eight spots in the Eastern Conference.
OTHER GAME
• Hurricanes 5, Canadiens 3: Jaroslav Spacek scored in his return to Montreal, and Carolina ended Montreal’s four-game winning streak.
Eric Staal scored twice for the Hurricanes, who won for the third time in their past five games and collected at least a point for the fifth straight game.
Spacek put his former teammates in a 2-0 hole when Jeff Skinner found him on a power play. Spacek was traded to the Hurricanes on Dec. 9 for Tomas Kaberle.
NOTABLE
• Comrie retires: Center Mike Comrie, who underwent three hip operations the past five years, retired from the NHL. Comrie was limited to 21 games last season, his 10th in the NHL, and had a goal and five assists for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Comrie, 31, had yet to take the ice this season and retired just two weeks after his latest procedure. Comrie, who is married to singer/actress Hilary Duff, had 168 goals and 197 assists in 589 games.
• Blackhawks stand by
Quenneville: Even though the Chicago Blackhawks are in the midst of an eight-game winless streak, general manager Stan Bowman said he is not considering replacing coach Joel Quenneville, Comcast SportsNet Chicago reported.
Quenneville was the Blackhawks’ coach in 2009-10, when they won the Stanley Cup.
• Oilers re-sign Sutton: The Edmonton Oilers re-signed hard-hitting defenseman Andy Sutton to a one-year contract extension worth $1.5 million. Sutton has three goals, six assists and 56 penalty minutes this season.
• Rinaldo suspended: The NHL suspended Philadelphia Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo for two games for launching to hit Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson on Sunday.
Rinaldo received a minor penalty for charging following the incident at 13:25 of the first period.
— From wire reports
