TAMPA - An arbitration hearing was not how Cory Stillman wanted to begin his Lightning career.
So just past midnight Wednesday, nine hours before his scheduled hearing in Toronto, the left wing and the team came to terms on a one-year, $2.75-million deal that makes him the second-highest paid Tampa Bay player.
Stillman, 29, who had 24 goals and 67 points with St. Louis last season, can earn about another $500,000 if he scores 45 goals and 90 points. The bonus decreases incrementally. Stillman was acquired on draft day for the Lightning's second-round pick, the 62nd overall.
"It was nice to avoid (arbitration)," Stillman said from Toronto. "They talk, and you talk. And it can get nasty. I hoped that would not be the way we started down in Tampa. We wanted to get a deal done, not have to worry about any kind of holdout or controversy and to get in camp and get going."
Stillman earned $2.1-million last season and had sought $3.5-million for one season. The Lightning made an initial qualifying offer of $2.25-million then increased it to $2.75-million on Sunday.
"They moved off what they had proposed on the weekend," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said. "What I had proposed on the weekend was at the maximum of what I was able to do. At that point, we were only talking base. We spent time with the bonus opportunities for the player so that if he had a monster year, he would be closer to where he wanted to be."
The Lightning never has completed an arbitration hearing.
When he acquired Stillman, Feaster considered him insurance against the loss of unrestricted free agent Vinny Prospal. With Prospal, the team leader in points last season with 79, now in Anaheim, Stillman will be expected to alleviate some of the offensive loss.
"There's good pressure there," Stillman said. "I'll try to fill his shoes. Our games will differ a bit, whether he was flashier than me or I am more aggressive than him.
"Everyone is different. I'm not going to come and play the exact same way, but I'll try to put up numbers."
Brooks' van was fine
MINNEAPOLIS - A preliminary check of the van driven by Herb Brooks showed no mechanical problems, the state Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.
Spokesman Kevin Smith said investigators want to know if Brooks was on the phone when he veered off into the median, where he was ejected when his van flipped. The department said it appears Brooks, the coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team who died Monday, was not speeding when the crash happened.
RANGERS: Wing Alexei Kovalev re-signed for one year and $6.6-million. He had 37 goals and 40 assists in 78 games for the Penguins and Rangers last season. He was eighth in the league in goals and made his second All-Star game appearance.
- Information from Times wires was used in this report.
