Summer Spotlight: Sillinger ready to roll with new deal in hand

In the leadup to training camp in September, BlueJackets.com is featuring CBJ players each weekday this summer. 

How he got here: It just seemed like Sillinger was destined to become a Blue Jacket in the 2021 draft, but it took some doing for the organization to take him 12th overall. The son of former CBJ forward Mike Sillinger, Cole had a pair of dominant junior seasons with Medicine Hat of the WHL (22-31-53 in 48 games in 2019-20) and Sioux Falls of the USHL (24-22-46 in 31 games) before the Jackets took him with a pick acquired earlier on draft day in a trade with Chicago. Since then, he’s spent the past three seasons with the Blue Jackets, totaling 32-42-74 in 220 games.

The 2023-24 season: After a tough sophomore slump during the 2022-23 season in which his goal output dropped from 16 as a rookie to three, Sillinger got back on track this past year. Not only did he set career NHL highs in assists and points, Sillinger spent some time as the Blue Jackets’ top center near the end of the campaign and started to become an indispensable part of the CBJ lineup. He averaged a career-high 16:07 of ice time, a mark that hopped up to 18:48 in his last 18 games of the season, and showed he can be a dependable player in all three zones.

Top moment: For a player who just turned 21 this offseason, Sillinger has already made his mark with a pair of hat tricks in the NHL. His most recent one came Jan. 6 against Minnesota as Sillinger gave the Blue Jackets the lead in the first, second and third periods of an eventual 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota in Nationwide Arena. His tipped goal past Marc-Andre Fleury in the third made him one of just 11 players in CBJ history with multiple three-goal games.

Fun fact: Sillinger is the first legacy to play for the Blue Jackets, as Mike played two seasons for the Blue Jackets from 2001-03 and amassed 38 goals and 86 points in 155 games in one of his 12 stops around the league. Cole also could see his brother play games for the Blue Jackets thus upcoming season, as his older brother Owen signed a two-way deal with the CBJ after spending the past three seasons with AHL Cleveland. While the two have skated in preseason games together and with the Monsters, only one combination of brothers has skated for the Jackets in regular-season games – Kris and Ryan Russell.

Stat to Know: When Sillinger skated in his 200th career game March 5 at Pittsburgh, he did so at 20 years, 294 days old – and accomplished something that hadn’t been done in the NHL since 2019. While reaching his milestone total, Sillinger became the first NHL player since Patrik Laine on Jan. 13, 2019, to play in 200 games before reaching the age of 21. In fact, at the time, just 11 other active NHL players – a list that includes such superstars as Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Steven Stamkos – had accomplished the feat before they could legally have a drink in the United States.

Expectations for 2024-25: Sillinger enters the season with some momentum coming off a bounce-back campaign and with a new two-year contract, signed today, under his belt. General manager Don Waddell said in July that Sillinger likely slots in as the Blue Jackets’ No. 3 center to start the upcoming campaign behind Sean Monahan and Adam Fantilli, which seems like a perfect fit for a player who can chip in offensively while also checking some of the better players in the NHL. Would it be a big surprise to see Sillinger make another leap in the scoring department after a couple of strong seasons to this point at his young age?