Blackhawks Sign Ryan Stanton

[HordiBrusk29]

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed defenseman Ryan Stanton to a three-year entry-level contract, which begins at the start of the 2010-11 season.

Stanton, 20, leads club blueliners with 30 assists and 40 points – both career highs – in 57 games with the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors. The St. Albert, Alberta native is tied for the lead among Warriors defensemen with a career-best 10 goals and holds third overall on the squad with 79 penalty minutes.

Stanton has racked up 102 points (19G, 83A) and 335 penalty minutes in 240 regular-season games with Moose Jaw over the last five seasons (2006-10) which includes finishing second among team blueliners and fifth overall on the club with 34 points (5G, 29A) in 69 tilts last season. He appeared in six postseason games with the Warriors in 2008, collecting two penalty minutes.

[OLLBLUEEYZ]

Hordi -whats your opinion of Stanton and some realistic expectations for him.
I saw your YouTube videos of him and thought you might have some insight.

[HordiBrusk29]

I don't see a whole lot of Stanton but realistically I'd say he's a decent depth defenseman. Probably nothing higher than a 4th or 5th defenseman. This year he's had a breakout season offensively but prior to that I'd consider him mostly a defensive defenseman. He does play physical and will drop the mitts on occasion. He's played on a couple of bad Moose Jaw teams so his plus minus has suffered because of that. Then again plus minus is a rather irrelevant statistic, IMO and it should never be taken too seriously. From everything I hear he seems to be a good teammate and is well liked in the dressing room. He should be a serviceable minor league player at the very least.