Blue Jackets notebook: Howson meets with GMs, but no deals yet
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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
NEW YORK — Two months ago, about the time it became clear that the Blue Jackets had no hope of reaching the playoffs, general manager Scott Howson pledged to be active before and at the trade deadline.
Howson has yet to swing a deal, but that doesn’t mean he has been sitting still.
Howson spent his weekend in Philadelphia and New York, where he met with general managers Paul Holmgren (Philadelphia), Brian Burke (Toronto) and, presumably, Glen Sather (New York Rangers).
The meeting with Burke was unscheduled, but the two met yesterday morning in a New York hotel. Burke reportedly was in town to tape a public service announcement for his son Patrick’s “You Can Play” initiative, in honor of his late brother, Brendan.
Rick Nash and R.J. Umberger of the Blue Jackets also were slated to tape announcements for the initiative yesterday, and Howson said he and Burke engaged in more than idle chit-chat.
Howson remained tight-lipped about the particulars, but he agreed to give a general characterization of the Blue Jackets’ efforts eight days before the trade deadline.
“As you get closer to the deadline, you start to have more certainty about what teams are thinking and you start to be able to define things with more clarity,” Howson said.
Are things clearing up?
“Not enough, because we haven’t done a deal,” said Howson, who refused to comment on Nash or any other Blue Jackets player who potentially could be traded.
Senior adviser Craig Patrick accompanied Howson to Philadelphia on Saturday and watched the Blue Jackets’ American Hockey League affiliate, Springfield, play at the Rangers’ affiliate, Connecticut, in Hartford on Friday.
Patrick was not in New York last night, although assistant general manager Chris MacFarland, a native of the Bronx, joined Howson in Madison Square Garden.
No go
Defenseman James Wisniewski was a scratch against the Rangers last night, a day after he said he suffered a pulled groin, and 10 days after he returned from a broken left ankle.
Wisniewski, who was a game-time decision, also took a puck off his left foot on Saturday against Chicago and briefly left the game in the third period.
He missed 17 games after suffering the fractured ankle at Dallas on Dec. 29.
Slap shots
Goaltender Curtis Sanford (back) skated in Columbus yesterday. “I heard it went well,” interim coach Todd Richards said. Sanford has missed five games. … Defenseman Nikita Nikitin (left knee) is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday against San Jose. Nikitin missed his 12th consecutive game last night. … Right winger Jared Boll (broken right foot) is feeling “much better,” Richards said, and could return Friday against Colorado. … Forward Antoine Vermette played his 599th NHL game last night.
smitchell@dispatch.com
