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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
TOP GAMES
RED WINGS 3, SHARKS 2
Wings win at home again
Detroit won its 23rd straight game in Joe Louis Arena yesterday, setting an NHL multiple-season mark by edging San Jose.
The Red Wings surpassed the 22 home wins in a row the Boston Bruins had over two seasons more than eight decades ago.
Henrik Zetterberg and Drew Miller gave Detroit a 2-0 lead midway through the second period and Darren Helm made it 3-1 at 7:01 of the third. Backup goaltender Joey MacDonald, filling in for the injured Jimmy Howard, made 31 saves.
The Red Wings won their sixth straight game, all in a homestand, and they have a league-high 84 points. The NHL’s second-longest home winning streak this season is eight, shared by Calgary and Colorado.
Although Detroit is 26-2-1 at home, it is 15-15-1 on the road.
Logan Couture scored late in the second period and Patrick Marleau made it 3-2 with 4:44 left, but the Pacific Division-leading Sharks lost for the sixth time in eight games.
BLACKHAWKS 3, BLUES 1
Chicago rallies in third
Chicago scored three times in the third period, and Dave Bolland got the go-ahead goal when his centering attempt hit the stick of St. Louis’ David Backes and deflected into the net.
Andy McDonald scored in the first period for the Blues, and Brian Elliott stopped all 13 shots he faced through two periods. Duncan Keith got the tying goal 4:52 into the third for Chicago, playing its first home game since Jan. 24. Marian Hossa added an empty-netter with 49 seconds to go, and Corey Crawford made 29 saves for the Blackhawks.
OTHER GAMES
• Sabres 6, Penguins 2: Derek Roy scored twice and added an assist, and Ryan Miller stopped Jordan Staal and Evgeni Malkin on breakaway attempts in the second period en route to making 24 saves for Buffalo, which snapped a four-game losing streak. Brent Johnson made a rare start in goal for Pittsburgh, but he was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots. Marc-Andre Fleury, who was slated for a day off, relieved Johnson and now has appeared in 50 of the Penguins’ 59 games.
• Wild 2, Bruins 0: Niklas Backstrom made a career-high 48 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and minor-league call-up Chad Rau had a goal as Minnesota won for only the second time in February.
• Devils 3, Canadiens 1: Martin Brodeur made 21 saves and New Jersey moved into fourth place in the East. The Canadiens fell to 0-8 against the Devils in Montreal since March 2008.
• Ducks 2, Panthers 0: Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne scored in the first period to become the oldest player to score 20 goals in a season since Johnny Bucyk of Boston in 1976-77, and Jonas Hiller made 31 saves for his third shutout of the season. Selanne, 41, also moved past Brendan Shanahan into 12th place on the career goals list with 657.
Selanne has 17 20-goal seasons, tied for fifth all time.
• Predators 3, Stars 2: Shea Weber scored a power-play goal with 0.2 of a second remaining in the first period — upheld after a video review — Pekka Rinne stopped 22 shots, and Nashville beat Dallas for just the sixth time in the franchises’ 26 meetings (6-19-1). Dallas fell to 0-9-2 in the second of back-to-back games this season.
• Jets 5, Avalanche 1: Bryan Little scored twice and Ondrej Pavelec made 31 saves as Winnipeg closed within a point of Southeast Division-leading Florida, which has lost three straight.
• Canucks 5, Oilers 2: Henrik and Daniel Sedin each recorded a goal and an assist, and Vancouver kicked off a six-game road trip by improving to 7-0-2 in February. The Canucks haven’t lost in regulation since Jan. 15.
NOTABLE
• Penguins extend Neal’s deal: Winger James Neal, enjoying a career year, signed a six-year, $30 million contract extension with Pittsburgh. Neal, 24, has a career-high 30 goals, along with 27 assists, in 58 games. He was acquired last season from Dallas for defenseman Alex Goligoski.
— Associated Press
