Oilers News: Edmonton Oilers sign defenceman Riley Stillman to two-year, $775K AAV contract

Riley Stillman’s bio and background

Stillman is a 27-year-old Calgary product, drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2016. In his NHL career, he has played 163 games, registering 4 goals and 22 assists for 26 points total. He was a member of the Carolina Hurricanes organization this past season, getting into five NHL contests.

Riley is the son of former NHLer Cory Stillman, who longtime Oilers fans will recall being a key piece of the 2005-06 Hurricanes squad that won the Stanley Cup. Beyond the Calgary hometown, Riley would be familiar with current Oilers GM Stan Bowman, who signed him in 2020-21 while still the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks. Stillman’s best NHL season to date came the next year, 2021-22, when he played 52 games, and put up 2 goals and 10 assists.

Are the Oilers finally starting to come to life?

This has been a slow free agency day for the Oilers, who have traded Viktor Arvidsson for a future 5th-round draft pick, and seen multiple former players sign elsewhere. Granted, a lot of the contracts being given out are for dollar amounts that could be considered overpays, and it’s a good thing the Oilers aren’t repeating the infamous “Summer of Jeff” from last July 1 and 2. The problem is that Edmonton has gone too far in the opposite direction so far today.

Now, there are still rumours abound that bigger moves are in the works. So maybe this is Bowman slow-playing free agency, and signing bargain deals on good players that don’t find teams right away. Maybe this Stillman signing is a sign that the Oilers are ramping up their work after all the major piles of cash have been thrown around. But certainly the organization cannot afford to settle for Riley Stillman as their free-agency prize.