We have been waiting for Cole Sillinger to fully develop his game for a long time. At least, that's the perception you will get if you ask many 5th Liners their opinion on the young Blue Jackets forward. But, the reality is this: his game arrived here when he first showed up, five years ago.
The fact of the matter is, not every first round pick needs to become a top line player for your team, in order to be a successful draft pick. This becomes more true as the first round runs deeper. Outside of the top 20-and in a lot of cases, even the top 5- a lot of teams are just happy to come away with NHL players.
The Blue Jackets did that with Cole Sillinger. He was an NHL player the moment they picked him 12th overall at the 2021 NHL Draft. Really, he was the 11th player taken, since Arizona forfeited their pick that summer. So far, nobody from that draft class has passed him up in games played. With any luck, that may never happen.
In the team's Behind the Battle episode from that draft, former AGM Josh Flynn quips that they would love to get Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger (around the 16:00 mark):
Fortuitously, the Ottawa Senators reached off the board (way off the board) to select Tyler Boucher with pick #10. This, combined with Arizona's hand slap, allowed the Jackets to nab a player they coveted much higher than 12th overall, with that pick.
Cole hasn't become a top six player, but he is a core Blue Jacket.
The rest, as they say, is history. Sillinger arrived at the CBJ prospect camp that fall, hoping to make a strong impression. He did that. In fact, his impression was so strong that he earned an invite to the team's main training camp. Then, he became the only player from his draft class to start that year in the NHL.
Cole got into 79 games as an 18-year-old, scoring 16 goals and 31 points while playing center for the Blue Jackets. Think about this for a second: imagine how hard it would be to stick around in this league as a teenager who isn't scoring huge offensive numbers. Then, imagine doing it while having to play center against the top players in the world.
Instead of getting a bevy of accolades for his game, Cole quietly brought his lunch pail and a no quit attitude to work, playing each and every shift like it mattered. At that point in time, he should have immediately been tagged as a huge piece of this team's future.
Only, that hasn't really been the case. On many instances, we see people quick to write him off as a missed pick, or a guy who never panned out. Many consider him a throw-in to their trade ideas. We still don't understand it.
Cole has quietly remained a crucial role player for this team. He takes on the thankless tasks, and does whatever the team needs him to do on any given night. In a lot of regards, we should be looking at him as the reason the team did not have to hand an ugly contract to Boone Jenner this summer.
Essentially, he's the same type of player. He can play in the middle, but he's probably better suited on the wing. He can chip in some offense, drive play with his board work, drop the gloves when needed, and kill penalties.
It's time to stop wondering when his offense will arrive, and start appreciating Cole Sillinger for the game he plays. You need guys like this in the middle six to build a contending team. At 23 years old, he's already proven himself as a valuable two-way player in the NHL.
He's a future captain in this league, and I'm excited to see him get rewarded with a nice pay raise this summer. Cole should be a Blue Jacket for life.
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