Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 5th round pick in the 2010 draft (#124 overall) defenseman Austin Madaisky(5) definitely ate lots of Wheaties in the off season.
In 15 AHL games with affiliate Springfield Falcons he’s already tied a career high 4 goals in a single season and blown a huge hole in his previous assist mark (at 4) recently adding a 10th helper to his totals with a +4 rating.
This puts him on par to equal some pretty impressive numbers he posted in his final campaign of juniors in the WHL as an assistant captain with Kamloops Blazers. He had 37 assists in 2011/2012 and 20 in each of his previous two years.
All of this is perfect timing as the decently sized 6’2″ 205 lbs. blue liner is in the last season of his 3-year entry level deal and set to become a restricted free agent.
Original story: 11/16-14
With his status moving towards rfa, the parent club wasted little time to make sure he was signed for another year with a two-way deal.
Makes sense as he blew the lid off his previous scoring totals recording 12 goals and 23 assists in a career high 53 AHL games before losing the remainder of the season to injury. He led all blue liner points in the league before going down.
Despite all the lost time he still managed to lead the Falcons‘ defense in goals, assists and points for 2014/2015.
If the 23-year old can stay healthy, the deep draft selection may just find himself spending a significant amount of time in the NHL.
He’s easily in line for the opportunity.
