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Blackhawks release Mark Stuart, John Mitchell, Drew Miller from tryout contracts

The Chicago Blackhawks got a look at Drew Miller, Mark Stuart, and John Mitchell, and decided they don’t need their services. The team released all three players from their professional tryout contracts Thursday.

There’s not much to add here other than a positive note on this decision. Miller, Stuart, and Mitchell are veterans who were brought into camp to push the kids and provide some competition. It’s clear now that none of them were really positioned to earn roster spots unless they blew away the coaching staff.

That unsurprisingly did not happen given all three players were terrible last season. Stuart has been one of the league’s worst top-four defensemen in recent years, Miller’s penalty killing game has cratered since his prime, and Mitchell isn’t much more than a faceoff specialist at this point.

Unless younger players struggled badly in training camp, which didn’t happen, it seems inevitable that these guys were going to be released. It’s good news that the team didn’t waste any roster spots on them.

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