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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
David Perron, left, of the Blues tries to steer the puck into the net while falling to the ice in front of Wild goaltender Josh Harding, right, and defenseman Greg Zanon.
TOP GAME
BLUES 4, WILD 0
Jackman has rare goal to lift St. Louis
Defenseman Barrett Jackman broke a league-high 150-game scoreless drought with a second-period goal and Brian Elliott had to make only 13 saves to lead St. Louis past slumping Minnesota yesterday.
The Blues won for the sixth time in seven games and picked up their league-best 26th home win. The Wild, meanwhile, is winless in its past seven and has scored just nine goals during its latest slump.
Jackman held the longest active scoreless skid in the NHL before sending a shot from the point past goaltender Josh Harding for his first goal since Jan. 7, 2010. Anaheim’s Sheldon Brookbank broke a 167-game scoreless streak with a goal on Friday.
Elliott recorded his sixth shutout of the season and 15th of his career. He improved to 20-5-2 and sports an NHL-best 1.55 goals-against average. The Blues have allowed only 10 goals in their past 10 home games.
OTHER GAMES
• Penguins 6, Flyers 4: Dustin Jeffrey scored a go-ahead goal 37 seconds into the third period and Matt Cooke tallied twice for Pittsburgh.
Playing in his first game since turning 40, Jaromir Jagr had two goals against his former team, but Philadelphia lost for the sixth time in eight games and got another poor performance from goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who was benched after allowing three goals on 13 shots.
• Islanders 4, Hurricanes 3: John Tavares had two goals and an assist as New York completed a four-game season sweep. Tavares pounced on a rebound 38 seconds into the third period to break a 3-3 tie.
• Lightning 2, Capitals 1: Steven Stamkos scored on a breakaway in the second period — his league-leading 40th goal — and Tampa Bay’s Mathieu Garon made 23 saves to improve to 4-1-1 lifetime against Washington.
Stamkos, 22, now has three straight 40-goal seasons, with a career high of 51 in 2009-10.
• Canucks 6, Maple Leafs 2: Henrik and Daniel Sedin combined to score eight points and Vancouver led 5-0 after two periods in recording its 10th consecutive victory over Toronto spanning eight seasons.
The Sedin twins dished out seven assists — Daniel had a goal and three assists and Henrik added four assists. Alex Burrows scored twice for the Canucks, who have won six of their past seven games.
• Coyotes 2, Stars 1, OT: Radim Vrbata scored his career-high 28th goal 1:15 into overtime — his 10th game-winner of the season — Mike Smith stopped 30 shots and Phoenix earned a point in its eighth straight game (7-0-1) by beating Dallas.
• Flames 1, Kings 0: Michael Cammalleri scored 4:03 into the third period, and Calgary drew even with Los Angeles for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.
NOTABLE
• Quick fine: The NHL fined Pittsburgh center Jordan Staal $2,500 yesterday, only hours after he boarded Philadelphia defenseman Braydon Coburn. Staal was given a minor penalty on the play.
• Source says Flyers get Kubina: A source told the Associated Press that Philadelphia has acquired veteran defenseman Pavel Kubina from the Tampa Bay Lightning for two unspecified draft picks.
• Green back for Caps: Washington defenseman Mike Green returned after missing 18 games because of an abdominal injury. He also has suffered ankle and groin injuries and has played in only 11 games this season.
— Associated Press
