Canucks trade Dickinson, 2nd-rounder to Blackhawks for Stillman

The Vancouver Canucks traded forward Jason Dickinson and a 2024 second-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Riley Stillman, the teams announced Friday.

The move will give the Canucks an additional $1.3 million in cap space, but they're still $689,167 over the upper limit with a roster of 22 players, per CapFriendly. They could become compliant by assigning one player to the minors.

Dickinson, 27, has two years remaining on his contract with a $2.65-million cap hit and will then be an unrestricted free agent. He recorded five goals and six assists in 62 games last season and is set to enter his eighth NHL campaign. He played his first six seasons with the Dallas Stars after they drafted him in the first round in 2013.

Stillman, 24, also has two years remaining on his contract with a $1.35-million cap hit and will hit restricted free agency at the end of the pact. He recorded two goals and 10 assists in 52 contests with the Blackhawks in 2021-22. The son of two-time Cup winner Cory Stillman, Riley was a fourth-round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2016.

Neither player is considered an analytics darling. Here are their underlying numbers over the last three seasons.

Evolving-Hockey.com

For the Canucks, they ship out a player whom the previous regime acquired last offseason and didn't quite pan out. They also gain depth on defense, although, as a left shot, Stillman won't fill Vancouver's holes on the right side of its blue line.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, gain another draft pick as their rebuild continues. They now have two firsts, two seconds, and two thirds in the 2023 and 2024 drafts.

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