Riley Stillman has signed a new contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Good deal, he's a decent 6 D

As a Hawks fan...meh. It's a long...er...ish deal that's barely above the league minimum. Hard to say it's a bad deal especially because he's still an RFA after the 3 years, but IMO he's not better than Boqvist/Beaudin/Mitchell/Kalynuk...so I guess He's the 7th or 8th man for 3 years?

He’s got potential for sure, haven’t loved him in his time here but he’s shown flashes that have gotten me excited for who he could be. Really no issue with the term or money, just a matter of whether or not he can hit his ceiling

Am I missing something here? He has 5 points in 45 career NHL games. He shouldn't be making any more than 800k IMO. He's only played 6 NHL games this year...

Yes you're missing something. You shouldn't be evaluating a defender price tag, much less a stay at home physical defender, off of points as the leading indicator; that doesn't make sense.

Stillman has shown the Hawks he's a better and cheaper version of Zadarov. Likely this signals the end of Zadarov with the Hawks; obviously a terrible trade by Bowman moving Saad for him.

Not sure why if you’re sending Saad to COL you didn’t try for Cole or Graves. Or try for Toews. But hindsight.

De Haan and Zadorov need to be gone. Keith-Murphy-Mitchell-Beaudin-Kalynuk-Boqvist (ugh) and Stillman. For next season. Let these kids play and get experience.

Vlasic chose to go back to BU which is fine. Regula injured a lot will need another year in AHL likely but that could do him some good as well. Can always use more seasoning and experience.

This is a fine signing. It’s cheap and term isn’t terrible. He’s better than Zadorov and younger and can still grow his game. He fits. And if he eventually doesn’t he won’t be hard to move.

Do we know if he needs to be protected or will he be exposed?

Bingo!

It’s amazing what reading The Athletic does for your passive hockey fan IQ. 😂

Not sure how a dman with so little experience in the nhl, and only 6 games with the Hawks warrants a 3yr contract over the league minimum.

Alright, take away points. He's still played 46 career NHL games over 3 seasons. He's not worth this.

Well if he doesn’t work out I’m sure the Habs will take him.

That makes no sense whatsoever

He was with a team where things weren't working out and that is not that uncommon for bottom 6/3rd pairing players. So far with the Hawks he's looked good in his own end, blocking shots and putting hits on players.

He's played 6 games this year, it might work out, but he definitely didn't do anything to deserve that kind of money

I like Saad, so that trade...aSAAiDe... I don't really think Stillman's proven anything at all. His last game was decent, but there's a ton to work on there too. He needs to get stronger against forwards in his own crease. Get better positioning and move them out. You also can't leave your goalie out to dry chasing the puck behind the net. It's VERY hard to score goals from behind the net, but it's FAR easier if a forward has the puck without any Dman between him and the goalie. If anything, I think Stillman's proven he's worse defensively than Zadorov, BUT the difference is two fold. A.) It's only been a handful of games for Stillman. and B.) The big difference to me is that the writers of the Athletic (a very popular source of yours) made up their mind before Zadorov played a game that it was a bad trade and thus he's not worth giving a chance. Do I think Zadorov should be a top pair Dman, NO! BUT make no mistake, he was put there for the month of February and beginning of March because he earned it. Since then, his play has dropped off and he's decided for some reason that he can go coast to coast with the puck by himself...which is stupid, but he needs to get back to basics and he'll be ok.

To me, this signing was a low risk signing. It's likely (and purposely) more $ than what he deserves for the SOLE reason that Seattle doesn't take him. It's not worth taking $1.35M contract for a guy that most teams already have. So he'll be exposed and Stan has this guy locked up WHILE also being an expiring RFA just incase the upside comes through. If he doesn't pan out, then you can waive him and either drop the salary all together or it'll be a minimal cap hit to eat.

Tad bit rich for now, but I think he’ll be worth it


(Come back to me few years later if/when I’m dead wrong)

I just wanted to mess with you.

Not just "my source" but millions...it's widely recognized as the top or top 2 sources for hockey for a good reason.

Zadarov is simply not good. There is a reason he was often in the press box in Colorado and it shows when he's on the ice. For every decent, or less often good, game he has, he has 2 bad games or more. Zadarov is terrible with the puck, can barely connect on a pass. He's also not very fast. He's good in the corners or in front of the net because of his size. Stillman has shown in his short stint he's a better passer, faster, just as physical, and isn't turning the puck over in his own end nearly as much as Z. I honestly don't' know what you're seeing with Z other then he has had a half dozen good games and about a dozen decent games but 18 games or so out of 47 is a bad average. Again, one of the best GMs in hockey wanted him out for good reason, he's simply just a big body that will hit and pin people to the boards but every other part of his game is not NHL quality which is IMO why they signed Stillman...Z's days are numbered. Stillman has shown so far and he's playing man and half which is why he was behind the net; Keith is there all the time as well.

Too much Mark Laz and your brain will melt.

To me its not that I think Z is soo good. Its that I think he currently provides something that no one else including Stillman can provide...so he has a place.
But I do agreed with some of what you say. Zadorov is likely the single slowest man in the NHL. Ok, I get it, but he has a role. I'm not suggesting he should even be a middle pair guy. I think he should be a bottom pair enforcer. Thats it. I'm not convinced Stillman is an NHLer yet and right now he hasn't played well enough to get 1 more NHL game imo. I know its only been 6 games (with the Hawks), but its ok to allow him a training camp to gel with a new team. He hasn't earned his spot. He's been gifted an NHL spot over Mitchell/Beaudin/Kalynuk. I'm not a fan of gifting roster spots, especially when others have been fighting for time and doing well in Rockford. Hard to say to those three that Stillman's "earned" his ice time. He hasn't earned anything. Is he faster than Z...yeah just about everyone is. Is he more physical, no. Is he a better passer...TBD. does he get lost in his coverage responsibilities...yes.

Also, Sakic one of the best GMs.... he's been provided ALOT of advantages over other GMs. IE his owner allowed him full control AND he's earned all his top 10 picks by having really bad teams. Yes, he's done a good job with player development. I HAVE to give him that credit, but now is the hard part. Its not hard to have a losing team for years.

That is a nice contract for a guy who has played a total of 49 NHL games to date.

This thread has taught me nothing but that people prefer proven and bad (Zadorov) over less proven and pretty alright (Stillman). One of them is breaking even on an NHL level, and one of them is getting caved in. Zadorov isn't getting better at this point, Stillman might still do that - and if he does, you have a great asset at a low cost. If he doesn't - you still have a good bottom pairing D for basically no cost. If he becomes worse - that's still better than Zadorov, cause he basically makes nothing towards the cap if buried.

Man, is it hard for people to properly think about these things. The upside is there, there is close to literally no downside, why would anyone disagree with this move?