Among yet another busy day in NHL free agency, the Columbus Blue Jackets made two signings of two-way contracts. One player might be more familiar to Union Blue and black and blue hockey fans than the other.
Cleveland Monsters fan favorite Owen Sillinger signed a one-year, two-way extension to remain in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization for the 2025-2026 campaign. He will once again be joining his brother, Cole, for another year of Ohio hockey.
I've made no secret of my love of Owen's game in the past. He is a brilliant player to have as a leader in the Cleveland organization; just as I predicted before the campaign last year, Owen indeed picked up an alternate captaincy's "A" patch on his chest this season. And, he was putting together what might've been the best statistical season of his career in the AHL before tragically having his year cut early in February due to a knee injury. Owen posted an 11-18-29 line in 44 games, suitable for 0.65 PPG in the AHL, a career high, with only 18 penalty minutes and a -5 rating on the ice.
Owen will be precisely what the Blue Jackets, Monsters, and especially head coach Trent Voglehuber, ask and need of him in 2025-2026: a "Swiss Army Knife" player that can play every forward position with relative ease. Owen is a coach's dream to have on their top two lines, and he has continued to improve his points per game rate every season since he came into the AHL in 2021-2022.
He also seemed to pick up some additional discipline in his game this season, as he took (roughly) just a half minute of penalty time per game, compared to his pace every prior season in the AHL, aside from his rookie year. He will continue to be a crowd favorite in the Forest City for hopefully years to come as part of a vital leadership core that has formed within the Monsters organization.
The other addition came a bit out of left field. 29-year-old former Ottawa Senator, San Jose Shark & New Jersey Devil Christian Jaros signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Blue Jackets, returning to North America for the first time since 2021-2022.
Jaros (pronounced JAH-ruhsh, per the team) profiles as a defensive defenseman that possesses decent size (6'3", 222) and can throw his frame around comfortably. During his short stints in the NHL years ago, the native Slovakian posted a 1-13-14 line in 91 games played between 2017 and 2022.
Over his career, Christian has also put up an overall -24 rating and has averaged 13:00 minutes of time on ice. Most recently, and for the past three years, he has skated in Asia's Kontinental Hockey League. During the 2024-2025 KHL campaign, he put up a 2-10-12 line in 51 outings with CSKA Moscow.
Jaros has a set role: a third-pairing depth defenseman who blocks shots, hits guys into the boards, and attempts to cause meaningful turnovers to set up his team's offense going the other way. He doesn't provide much beyond the blue line for his team in the offensive zone, but seems to be able to skate reliably well and is intelligent enough to use his frame productively.
He profiles as a depth option in Cleveland, bringing some international veteran experience to the young Monsters prospect team that will see some turnover this offseason. I doubt he will get a crack at the NHL level, but I wouldn't be shocked if we see him get some significant looks during the preseason at least.
Both young men will bring a bit of a veteran edge to the aptly named "Black and Blue Hockey" club in Northeast Ohio, and I would expect Owen will continue to be a fan favorite, while Jaros should quickly become one.