The New Jersey Devils have a long list of prospects all across the world. They are paying attention to players in major junior programs in Canada, in the NCAA in the U.S., and overseas in places like Russia and Sweden. The Devils prospect pool is worldwide. Since there are so many Devils prospects to pay attention to, sometimes when something happens it falls under the radar. That seems to be what’s happening with former 1st-round pick Chase Stillman.
The Devils surprisingly took Stillman with the 29th overall pick in last year’s NHL Draft. Most had him between the 50th and 100th pick in the draft, so it’s clear the Devils reached a little to take him. It’s not the first time this has happened. The Devils have reached at the end of the first round before.
Stillman has been good for the Peterborough Petes and Sudberry Wolves in the OHL this season. Despite being traded in the middle of the year, he has 41 points in 47 games. He’s someone whose main gig is to bring grit and toughness to the lineup. That grit and toughness ended up getting him in trouble this week.
The Peterborough Petes will be without Chase Stillman tonight as they visit Ottawa on 67's Legacy Night. He has been suspended indefinitely after a check from behind on Braden Haché.
— Kenny Walls (@LongBallsWalls) March 11, 2022
Ottawa native Brandt Clarke has also been suspended indefinitely for a check to the head.
Suspended indefinitely is not what the Devils want to see from their prized prospect. He’s someone they need to develop, and seeing him lose important time in his OHL season isn’t great. When looking at the hit, it looks innocent enough, but juniors have been harder on suspensions in the past. It makes sense since the players are younger and less physically built.
Someone tell Chase Stillman that if you're going to bury a guy from behind less than a minute into the game, you definitely shouldn't pick the director of officiating's son to do it to #OHL pic.twitter.com/LWcsm3PRTX
— Generals Live (@GeneralsUpdates) March 11, 2022
Stillman definitely hit the player in the numbers. It is definitely in-game penalty worthy. It seems like it falls short of a major, but if that was the decision so be it. However, to suspend a guy for a hit like this when A. he didn’t put his all into the hit because he likely understood the situation and B. the situation doesn’t really make sense for malice (early in the game with the score still tied), it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
The tweet claims that this hit came on the son of the director of officiating. That would be Braden Haché of the Kingsbury Frontenacs. Who knows if this has anything to do with why and how long Stillman is/will be suspended. What we do know is the hit directly led to Haché missing the rest of the game, and injuries usually lead to worse suspensions.
The Devils hope Stillman can return sooner rather than later. There is still a month left in the Petes season, so he has time. Not having an actual timetable on the player’s suspension is not what the Devils want.