This morning, Cole Sillinger and the Columbus Blue Jackets put pen to paper on a short two-year, $2.25 million AAV contract that will keep Sillinger in the Union Blue through the end of the 2025-2026 season. Cole had become the final known move that Don Waddell needed to make this offseason following yesterday's trade of Patrik Laine to the Montreal Canadiens.
Sillinger, now only 21 but already headed into his fourth season in the NHL, was the final RFA that needed to be signed on the CBJ roster. He has put up a 32-42-74 line with 105 PIM and a career -49 over 220 games played.
He was the 12th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and was notable in that he immediately jumped into the NHL and broke out in his rookie year, posting a 16-15-31 line in 79 games. After a well-noted sophomore slump, Sillinger regained his rookie season form with 32 points during the 2023-2024 campaign.
Cole has had an up-and-down journey in the NHL so far. His sophomore slump was one for the ages, which put a significant damper on the perceived ceiling of his development as a prospect.
Most scouting reports and prospect analysis articles I've looked at now view Sillinger as a middle-six centerman in the future who will have a decent scoring touch, high hockey IQ, good leadership skills, and a rough-and-tumble aspect to his game. There is still a decent chance he could end up being a star-level producer, but the flashes he showed in his rookie campaign of that kind of production faded somewhat in his next two seasons.
Regardless, the Blue Jackets need more players like Cole. He will likely fit exceptionally well into Dean Evason's system, which emphasizes a hard forecheck, clever physical play, and driving play to the boards.
Besides fights and good hits, Cole showed a keen eye for gathering the puck and decent breakout plays under Pascal Vincent's system in 2023-2024. I do not doubt that playing under Evason's more well-defined program will benefit him and his development.
Some will be apprehensive over Sillinger's lack of a longer-term extension that would've brought him into the final 1-2 years of his RFA rights with the Blue Jackets, but I would argue that this deal makes sense for the team and Cole, especially.
The 2-year time frame will bring Cole into his arbitration-eligible seasons and hopefully let him establish himself as a solid middle, or top, six centerman with improved play under Evason. If he does so, he'd be in line for much more cash in the long term than he would've been had he signed a 4 or 5 year deal.
For the Jackets, it's a no-risk short-term bridge deal that will allow them to continue to evaluate Sillinger's talent while having an easy out after just two seasons if he no longer filters into the club's plans. However, if we rely on Don Waddell's comments, I think Cole will have a place with the Jackets even if he doesn't quite pan out to be a 2nd line center.
"Cole Sillinger is a very smart, two-way center who competes extremely hard at both ends of the ice. He played over 200 NHL games before turning 21 and is coming off his best season, so we are looking forward to his continued growth as a player. He is going to be an important part of the present and future of this club.”"Don Waddell
Jackets fans should be excited to continue to see what growth Cole can show over the next few years and should be hopeful for a longer-term extension beyond this deal.