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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 GAME
Penguins 2, Rangers 0
Fleury ties Pittsburgh mark for career shutouts
Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist and Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 27 shots for his third shutout of the season as Pittsburgh defeated New York last night.
It was Fleury’s 22nd career shutout, tying Tom Barrasso’s franchise record.
Malkin, the league’s leading scorer, boosted his season total to 73 points as the Penguins snapped a string of five straight losses to the Rangers in Pittsburgh.
He gave Fleury the only goal he would need when he scored on a breakaway 65 seconds into the second period. Taking a pass off the boards, Malkin veered in from the left and flicked a backhander over a sprawled Henrik Lundqvist for his 33rd goal of the season.
The Penguins made it 2-0 on the power play 10 minutes later when Steve Sullivan uncorked a blast from just inside the blue line that beat a screened Lundqvist.
OTHER GAMES
• Flyers 5, Jets 4, OT: Jaromir Jagr scored the winner at 4:16 of overtime as Philadelphia rallied to snap a six-game losing streak to Winnipeg.
The Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds forced overtime with 10 seconds remaining in regulation.
• Blackhawks 2, Red Wings 1: Corey Crawford made 31 saves to lead Chicago over Detroit in a matchup of Central Division rivals missing their top centers.
Jimmy Hayes scored the tying goal in the second period and set up Marcus Kruger’s winning score in the third as the Blackhawks won their fourth consecutive game.
• Sabres 2, Islanders 1: Ryan Miller made 30 saves, including stopping Matt Moulson on the doorstep with 4:04 left, and led Buffalo to its second straight win.
• Devils 4, Maple Leafs 3, OT: Mark Fayne’s fluke goal at 1:18 of overtime lifted New Jersey to its fourth consecutive victory.
Fayne fired a shot from the blue line that appeared to be going wide of the goal. Toronto goaltender Jonas Gustavsson tried to corral the puck, but it deflected off the inside of his left pad and into the net, spoiling a Maple Leafs comeback.
• Lightning 3, Ducks 2: Steven Stamkos scored his league-leading 41st and 42nd goals and added an assist as Tampa Bay won its third straight.
• Stars 3, Canadiens 0: Mike Ribeiro scored in his return to Montreal and Kari Lehtonen turned aside 31 shots as Dallas won for just the second time in seven games.
Ribeiro, making his first visit to the Bell Centre since being traded to Dallas in 2006, gave the Stars some insurance with the first of two third-period goals.
• Predators 3, Canucks 1: Mike Fisher scored a power-play goal and added two assists as Nashville beat Vancouver.
• Oilers 6, Flames 1: Sam Gagner and Jordan Eberle each recorded a goal and two assists as Edmonton ended a nine-game losing streak against Calgary.
• Coyotes 5, Kings 4, SO: Ray Whitney and Mikkel Boedker scored in the shootout as Phoenix overcame a 3-0 deficit to move into a first-place tie with San Jose in the Pacific Division.
NOTABLE
• Three-way trade: The Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay and Detroit worked out a three-team trade yesterday in which Colorado wound up with forward Steve Downie, Detroit got defenseman Kyle Quincey and Tampa Bay obtained minor-league defenseman Sebastien Piche and a first-round draft pick.
• Injury report: St. Louis Blues forward Jamie Langenbrunner will miss at least a month because of a broken bone in his left foot suffered in a loss on Sunday at Chicago. ... Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk is expected to miss two weeks after having arthroscopic surgery to remove fragments from his right knee. ... Tampa Bay captain Vincent Lecavalier will be out indefinitely because of a broken right hand.
• Sale of Coyotes nearly complete: The Coyotes are on the verge of being sold to a group led by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison, who plans to keep the team in Phoenix, according to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal.
— Associated Press
