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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
"I want to be here. ... I signed here and I knew that was going to be a long haul and that it was going to be a grind." -- James Wisniewski
The last-place Blue Jackets and 14,043 of their fans suffered through a late-season loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Nationwide Arena on Sunday.
It was a dismal, mistake-filled defeat, the likes of which could be repeated several more times as the Blue Jackets slog through the final weeks of the season. But defenseman James Wisniewski said he and his teammates must do what they can to avoid punch-line status.
“I don’t want to go home in the summertime and hear people say, ‘Who do you play for?’ and I say the Columbus Blue Jackets and they say, ‘Who’s that?’ or get laughed at,” Wisniewski said. “That’s not something that I signed up for. We’re men. We have a lot of pride.”
Wisniewski returned for a victory on Saturday over the Minnesota Wild after missing 17 games because of a broken left ankle. Playing out the string doesn’t bother him, so long as it’s part of the process of getting better.
“I want to be here,” Wisniewski said. “I signed here (in July). I didn’t get traded here. I wasn’t drafted here. I signed here and I knew that was going to be a long haul and that it was going to be a grind.”
Wisniewski had an empty-net goal and an assist on Saturday. On Sunday, he played a team-high 25:53 and had an assist. It was the 20th point in his 31st game of a season marred by the ankle injury and an eight-game suspension.
Wisniewski was fifth in scoring among NHL defensemen with a career-high 10 goals and 41 assists in 75 games last season with Montreal and the New York Islanders.
He would be welcomed to a playoff contender in the final weeks but is somewhat immune to the uncertainty facing many of his teammates as the Blue Jackets prepare to be “active,” according to general manager Scott Howson, before the Feb. 27 trade deadline.
Wisniewski has a modified no-trade clause. He is likely to remain in Columbus, where he said a winning franchise can be built.
“I was playing in Chicago when there wasn’t more than 6,000 people in the arena,” Wisniewski said. “And four years
later (the Blackhawks) won a Stanley Cup. The draft is so big now, and if you make a couple of good moves and some good trades, you can be there.”
The Blue Jackets have drawn an average crowd of 14,561 to Nationwide despite their struggles this season.
“Our fans, they’re still here, which is unbelievable considering what they’ve had to go through,” Wisniewski said. “I think Columbus is one of the most up-and-coming cities in the United States. People here want to have a good time.”
Wisniewski’s contract runs through 2017. He said he is ready for the long haul.
“I plan to be a part of building something here,” he said. “I’m only 28. I want to stay here and be part of a winning organization.”
smitchell@dispatch.com
