Blackhawks reach 3-year deal with defenseman Riley Stillman

The Blackhawks came to terms on a three-year, $4.05 million contract with defenseman Riley Stillman on Sunday.

The Hawks acquired Stillman, Brett Connolly and the rights to Henrik Borgstrom from Florida at the trade deadline. The 23-year-old Stillman has played in the last six games for the Hawks, doling out 16 hits, blocking 8 shots and averaging 16 minutes, 43 seconds of ice time.

"It's really exciting," Stillman said. "I was happy to come in and be given an opportunity here."

The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Stillman, drafted in the fourth round by Florida in 2016, gives the Hawks some much-needed size on the back end.

"We love his size, and his toughness adds another piece to our defense," said Stan Bowman, the Hawks' GM and president of hockey operations.

Stillman averaged 19 minutes in 34 games for the Panthers last season, but saw just eight games with them this season while playing five times for the AHL's Syracuse Crunch.

The Ontario native now joins a very crowded blue line as Duncan Keith, Calvin de Haan, Connor Murphy, Wyatt Kalynuk, Adam Boqvist, Nicolas Beaudin and Ian Mitchell are all signed through at least next year. Nikita Zadorov is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

The Hawks will lose one player in the expansion draft - not necessarily a defenseman, of course.

Isaak Phillips, Alec Regula and prospect Jakub Galvas all have potential as well.

As for Stillman, he's just happy a deal is done so he can focus on a new chapter in his career.

"The coaching staff and my teammates are great, coming in and helping me out with the new system and stuff like that," he said. "It's been awesome. I can't think of a better way to describe it, being a fresh start and an opportunity to prove myself and prove what I can do to help this team move forward here.

"I can't say enough good things about it."