When Stillman started his junior hockey career with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League, he joined the club as a second-round pick and used the selection to motivate him further.
"I went into it with the mindset that in my first year I'm still going to be one of the top rookies in the league, and that was just fuel in the tank," he said. "I ended up being right wing first All-Star team. You find ways to fuel yourself and motivate yourself. You always have to push yourself and that's the way I like to live."
He certainly didn't disappoint early into his rookie campaign with the Wolves. In his home debut, he scored a highlight reel goal by toe dragging his way around North Bay Battalion defenseman Nick King to notch his first career junior tally.
"Pretty funny that was my first goal in junior," Stillman laughed. "Just a little glimpse of what I'm able to do and hopefully produce."
Stillman finished with 13 goals and 34 points in 58 games before the league ground to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the OHL not resuming play for the 2020-21 season, Stillman continued to train and looked elsewhere for opportunities to play. He was eventually loaned to Esbjerg Jr in the Denmark Junior League.
While joining a new league overseas in the middle of a pandemic would be enough to make anyone feel comfortable, Stillman embraced the situation. "It was tough at times," Stillman said. "You're kind of in your own head about how much I can do here and how much of this is going to make a difference, but you have to go into every game and think that someone is always going to be watching."
Although his time in Denmark was fleeting, Stillman still made an impact. He scored nine goals and 16 points in eight games.
While the stint in the Danish league gave him the chance to exhibit the offensive side of his game, being named to Team Canada for the 2021 Under-18 World Championship gave him the opportunity to show what he could do on the other side of the puck.
"With Team Canada I was able to show off my lockdown role," said Stillman, who won gold for his native country. "In the two showcases I had, I think I was able to show both sides of my game, and now it's just a matter of combining them both to show the versatility of myself as a player."
As Stillman looks ahead to the next chapter in his career, he welcomes the pressure that comes with being an NHL first rounder.
"There's obviously some added pressure being a first-round pick," he said. "They kind of want you to be able to step in earlier and I want that pressure and I know I have the ability to do that."
While Stillman's goal is unquestionably to play for New Jersey, he knows the expectations will still be high when he returns to Sudbury.
"There's still the added pressure of being a first-rounder and starting to take the league and start dominating and being a game changer more and more," he said.
Wherever he plays this season, one thing is certain, Stillman will continue to live by his motto. In addition to having "safe is death" in his Twitter bio, he also has a shorthand, "S.I.D.," scrawled on the inside of his right glove. A little reminder for him to always push himself and never to be satisfied with comfortable.
