Canucks acquire defenceman Stillman in trade with Blackhawks
Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin didn’t take the Friday night before a long weekend off.Ā
The Canucks’ GM moved forward Jason Dickinson and a second round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenceman Riley Stillman in a seemingly after-hours swap.
“We see him as a third-pairing defenceman, character guy,” Allvin told media in Vancouver. “Hard to play against.”
Stillman, 24, had 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) with 36 minutes in penalties in 52 games with the Blackhawks last season. He led all Chicago bluelinersĀ in hits per 60 minutes (9.34).
"See him as a third pairing defenceman, character guy, hard to play against."
š£ļø G.M. Patrik Allvin speaks to the media following the acquisition of Riley Stillman from the Chicago Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/uR8KRtF88M
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 8, 2022
In 108 career regular season games split between Chicago and the Florida Panthers, Stillman has 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) and 68 penalty minutes. The 6’1″, 196-pound defenceman also played in three playoff games with Florida during the 2020 qualifying round.
He was originally selected in the fourth round (No. 114) of the 2016 draft.Ā
The deal creates some cap flexibility for the Canucks.
After trading away Jason Dickinson ($2.65M AAV) and acquiring Riley Stillman ($1.3M AAV), we now show the #Canucks $689,167* over the cap with a roster of 22 (12F / 8D / 2G).
*Ferlund's $3.5M is eligible for LTIR for #Canucks to become cap compliant.https://t.co/ETtxrlzQdA— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) October 8, 2022
“It’s part of the league and it’s operating in LTIR as we are right now,” Allvin said. “You want to make sure you have flexibility moving forward here. It was part of it, but we were also happy to get Riley back. And Jason Dickinson is a good hockey player, too. It’s obviously never an easy decision. I think in the end both clubs were happy.”
Dickinson had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 62 games with the Canucks last season, his second with the club. Over 113 games with the Canucks, the 27-year-old centre had 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists).Ā
He has two seasons remaining on a three-year, $7.95 million contract with an average annual value of $2.65 million, signed by former GM Jim Benning on August 14, 2021.
“I think we’re really happy to see the internal competition that all the good teams need,” Allvin said. “In this case, we feel we have depth more so in that (centre) position and give the coaching staff options.”
The trade came during Vancouver’s final preseason game against the Arizona Coyotes. Dickinson was not dressed for the game.
Follow Channels and Categories