Blue Jackets notebook: Johansen’s education continues
Most-recent members
-
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
Blue Jackets rookie Ryan Johansen rarely plays these days, and he likely will be a healthy scratch for the fifth time in seven games when the Blue Jackets play host to the Chicago Blackhawks this afternoon.
But team management would rather have Johansen in an NHL press box than a junior-league hockey rink.
“He’s going to finish the season with us,” general manager Scott Howson said when asked if Johansen could be returned to Portland of the Western Hockey League before the trade deadline.
The healthy scratches are all part of the process for a teenage rookie, Howson said.
“There’s a lot of learning to go through when you’re 18 or 19 years old in this league,” Howson said. “It’s not easy. I went through the same thing with Ales Hemsky in Edmonton (in 2002-03), and he turned out pretty good.”
Hemsky had six goals and 24 assists in 59 games in his rookie season.
Johansen was the Blue Jackets’ lone invitee to All-Star weekend, participating in the skills competition. He has nine goals and eight assists in 45 games. The Blue Jackets could have sent him to Portland, where he would have been eligible to finish the regular season and play in the playoffs for the Winterhawks.
Instead, he will continue to fight for a spot in the lineup of the NHL’s worst team.
“(Interim coach Todd Richards) said that I’ve been doing the things that he has wanted me to be doing,” Johansen said. “It’s just that the team has been playing good lately and it’s hard to fit me in the lineup right now. So he just wants me to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Impressed in the interim
Howson said Richards has done an impressive job since taking over after Scott Arniel was fired on Jan. 9.
It is possible, Howson said, that Richards could do well enough that a search for a new coach won’t be necessary after the season.
“We’ve all been impressed with how he’s handled this, how he’s handled the team and how they’re playing,” Howson said. “But in terms of any decision, it’s premature right now. As with any coaching change, there are always differences. Certain players, for whatever reason, respond differently to a new coach, a new voice. And we’ve seen some of that. But overall, there’s more structure with how we play."
Slap shots
The Blue Jackets activated defenseman Brett Lebda (broken right thumb) from injured reserve and placed goaltender Curtis Sanford (back) on injured reserve. Lebda is likely to return to the lineup today after missing five games. Sanford is out indefinitely. … Rick Nash, Jeff Carter, Derek Dorsett and Fedor Tyutin returned to practice yesterday after skipping practice on Thursday. All are expected to play today. … Goaltender Steve Mason can become the Blue Jackets’ all-time wins leader today. He is 84-87-25 in four seasons.
smitchell@dispatch.com
aportzline@dispatch.com
