Blue Jackets notebook: Carter shows scouts his scoring ability
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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
It is no secret that the Blue Jackets are shopping center Jeff Carter, hoping to trade the center before the deadline buzzer sounds at 3 p.m. on Monday.
The Blue Jackets, committed to retooling their roster, have yet to close a deal involving Carter or anyone else, but Carter’s stock likely went up last night, at least among players of the trade market swayed by hat tricks.
“I don’t have any say in that,” said Carter, who had his second hat trick of the season. “I can’t worry about the rumors and what’s going on.”
Scouts from eight NHL teams had reserved seats in the Nationwide Arena press box. They watched Carter score two power-play goals in the first period and an even-strength goal in the third to help the Blue Jackets wallop the San Jose Sharks 6-3.
Carter, who has 15 goals and 10 assists, scored his seventh and eighth power-play goals despite being limited to only 39 games because of injuries.
With the Philadelphia Flyers last season, Carter shared the team lead with eight power-play goals in 80 games. He scored a career-high 13 power-play goals in 82 games in 2008-09, so it would seem plausible that he could come close to matching that total this season, wherever he ends up.
Carter scored his first when he took a feed from Vinny Prospal and beat goaltender Antti Niemi with a slick wrist shot from the high slot to give the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead at 6:51 into the game.
Carter scored again with a backhanded, between-the-legs job that flummoxed Niemi’s replacement, Thomas Greiss, at 19:30 of the first to make it 4-0.
“I think a big reason for what we got tonight was scoring early,” Blue Jackets interim coach Todd Richards said. “It gave us some confidence, especially on the power play.”
Carter’s second goal was the 11th power-play goal scored by the Blue Jackets in their past nine games. David Savard added another power-play goal in the second period, raising the Blue Jackets’ power-play percentage to 30.8 (12 of 39) in their past nine games.
The Blue Jackets began the season 0 of 20 on the power play and once had the worst conversion percentage in the NHL. They entered last night’s game ranked 20th.
The Blue Jackets scored four power-play goals on Dec. 22 at Nashville but blew a 4-1 lead and lost 6-5. Carter also scored two power-play goals and had a hat trick in that game.
“That’s one we want to forget, for sure,” Carter said.
Carter capped his 500th career game when he scored into a gaping net at the backside of Greiss to make it 6-2.
Slap shots
Blue Jackets center Antoine Vermette had an assist in his 600th career game. … Goaltender Curtis Sanford (back) practiced with the team yesterday morning and said he could be ready to play against Colorado on Friday. ... The Blue Jackets were 0-3 and outscored 10-2 by the Sharks in their first three meetings.
smitchell@dispatch.com
