Blue Jackets notebook: York enduring road games
Well-traveled rookie goaltender back with Jackets
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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
Goaltender Allen York, right, has appeared in four games for the Blue Jackets and soon could get his second start.
A rash of goaltender injuries at all levels of the Blue Jackets’ organization has conspired to keep Allen York on the move and off the ice.
Slated to play his first full season in the minor leagues, York has appeared in only 18 games across three levels, far fewer than he expected when training camp broke last fall.
Yet York, a 22-year-old rookie, isn’t complaining. He is back with the Blue Jackets for the third time, living the enviable life of an NHL player, albeit one who rarely plays.
“It’s nice to be here,” said York, a sixth-round pick in 2007 who signed last March after three seasons of college hockey at R.P.I. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). “If you’re not playing anyways, you might as well be here getting these kinds of guys shooting on you. And you never know … ”
He was recalled last week from the Chicago Express of the East Coast Hockey League to replace injured goaltender Curtis Sanford (back) and to back up Steve Mason. It was the 12th time he has switched teams this season, said York, who has played four games for Columbus, nine for Chicago and five for Springfield of the American Hockey League.
It has been a never-ending journey through the corridors of arenas and airports, during which he has yet to spend a month at a time with the same team. That’s not the ideal way to develop a young goalie, but not all the lessons of pro hockey are learned on the ice.
“The good thing is that he has been able to be up here and see how the NHL works,” interim coach Todd Richards said. “He’s practicing against NHL players, facing NHL shooters. You learn a lot from that, but you also learn a lot from playing, too. There is good and bad that goes with it. They’re going to learn and grow while they’re up here but you also want them … playing.”
At every level this season, York has a goals-against average of more than 3.50 and a saves percentage lower than .900. He said his game “wasn’t where it needed to be” in November and December, but said he has played and practiced well the past two months.
“It’s not so much about the games,” York said. “As a rookie, especially a goaltender, you have to fight every day. I’ll continue to develop.”
York made his first and only NHL start on Oct. 29 in a 5-2 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks. He could soon make another.
Sanford is out indefinitely, and Richards said he is not opposed to giving York the nod in the meantime.
“The plan is that Mason is going to go Saturday (against the Blackhawks),” Richards said. “That’s as far as we’ve looked. We’ll see how Mason goes on Saturday and then make the call for Sunday (at the New York Rangers).”
Slap shots
Rick Nash, Jeff Carter, Derek Dorsett and Fedor Tyutin did not practice yesterday. Nash, Carter and Dorsett were given maintenance days. Tyutin missed practice because of the birth of a daughter, Nina. … Defenseman Brett Lebda skated with the team for the first time since suffering a broken right thumb on Feb. 3.
smitchell@dispatch.com
