Florida Panthers Prospect Profile: Riley Stillman

With the 114th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, the Florida Panthers selected defenseman Riley Stillman of the Oshawa Generals (OHL). The young blue liner is the son of short-term Panther Cory Stillman (2008-11). Stillman boasts a very good hockey IQ and great skating abilities.

Riley Stillman
Defense — shoots L
Born Mar 9 1998 — Peterborough, ONT
Height 6’1 — Weight 199 lbs–Oshawa Generals — 62 GP, 11 G, 22 A, 33 Pts

As a kid Stillman remembers wandering the Bank Atlantic (now BB&T) Center locker room, as well as the Panthers Ice Den, messing with his father and the teammates. Former Panther and now Director of Player Development, Bryan McCabe recalls the youngster playing “stickball” in the locker room. He also played for the Jr. Panthers while living in Plantation, Florida and attending American Heritage.

He actually credits his father for being where he is today:

"“He was everything; he was my coach, my strength coach, my dad, my best friend. He’s been everything in my life… Skills-wise he taught me everything, how to shoot, how to pass.”"

As far as what he brings from a skill set aspect; great skating, speed and edge work both ways. A “quarterback” on the power play for his current team, walking the line to open up passing and shooting lanes. His slap shot and wrister aren’t overwhelming, but accurate even in traffic.

Defensively, Stillman is pretty well-developed at his level. A strong presence who makes it extremely tough to beat him one on one. Battles hard in front of the net and along the boards, and couples that with his good positioning to cut off passing and shooting lanes.

There realistically will be at least another season of OHL play for the young defenseman before he is ready to make the jump. We’ll see how quick the guys upstairs are to ink him to his ELC (entry-level contract).

More from Prospects

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• What To Make Of Cole Schwindt’s Panthers Debut
• Will Matt Kiersted’s First-Career Goal Spark His Career?
• Florida Panthers WJC Wrap-Up: Denisenko Takes Silver; Knight Crashes Early; Schütz Survives Relegation
• Florida Panthers: Spencer Knight & Grigori Denisenko Both Drop WJC Openers

On the other hand, with Michael Matheson and Denis Malgin playing in the NHL this season, Ian McCoshen seems like he’ll make it all the way through the ranks of the Florida Panthers system. This shows that the Panthers can finally build through the draft.

Something we haven’t seen down here really at all, prior to Dale Tallon coming to Florida, was the organization selecting the appropriate players in the draft. In the past, the Panthers have been a disaster in the Draft, often selecting the wrong player. Now, we finally get to talk about guys with definite skill and promise for the future like Adam Mascherin, Henrik Borgstrom, and Riley Stillman (just to name a few).

Danny (Editorial Manager of the site) was in attendance for last night’s (April 7th, 2017) playoff game between the Oshawa Generals and the Mississauga Steelheads. Riley Stillman ended up with the game’s winning goal, which came off a rush from his own zone.

Danny stated:

"“Riley possessed a lot of speed, knowing when it was appropriate to jump up in the play. Riley offers a ton of leadership skills that could make him a possible candidate for captain if he ever made the team. Finally, Riley showed great capabilities in both zones of the ice, ultimately knowing what his main priority was: getting pucks out of the zone.”"

Next: Florida Panthers sign prospect Blaine Byron from University of Maine