Thanks to the 79 readers who submitted ballots in this year’s ranking of Columbus Blue Jackets players under the age of 25. We continue counting down the Top 10 of our rankings today.

#7 Cole Sillinger

Voting

7th out of 45 eligible players
Writer Rank: 7th
Reader Rank: 7th
Highest Placement: 2nd (1 vote)
Most Common Placement: 7th (15 votes)
2022 Rank: 2nd

Biography

Birthdate: May 16, 2003
Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 201 lbs
Position: C
Shoots: Left
Acquired: 2021 1st Round pick (12th overall) by the Blue Jackets

2022-23 Season

Second-generation Blue Jacket Sillinger was the only skater in his draft class to play in the NHL for the entire 2021-22 season, and put up a very respectable 31 points while playing his way into a top 6 center role. Hopes for him were justifiably high, as he finished #2 in these rankings last summer, behind only Patrik Laine.

To say last season was a disappointment would be an understatement. He finished with just 11 points in 64 games. It took him 8 games to earn his first point, and 14 to earn his first goal. After 5 points (2G/3A) in the first 16 games, he had a 45 game goalless streak, in which he only earned 4 assists and was -17. In mid-March, he was finally sent down to the Cleveland Monsters, and bounced back a bit with a 2/4/6 line in 11 games.

The points don’t tell the whole story, however. He received more defensive zone starts (44.3% in 2022-23 vs. 41.0% in 2021-22) and struggled in that role. He also wasn’t helped by the minutes played with the likes of Eric Robinson and Liam Foudy, which resulted in worse offense and/or defense:

In the comments of his player review back in June, I did some research and found:

His underlying numbers were fairly constant, but he got a harder deployment and worse linemates, with predictable results, and his shooting luck crashed.

https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerreport.php?fromseason=20222023&thruseason=20222023&stype=2&sit=5v5&stdoi=oi&rate=y&v=p&playerid=8482705

5v5 shots on goal/60: 8.08 vs. 6.62
5v5 SH%: 11.02 vs. 1.23
iXG/60: 0.81 vs. 0.78
G/60: 0.89 vs. 0.08

In addition, his IPP dropped from 70.59 to 35.00, meaning that even when the Jackets scored with him on the ice, he earned a point far less often than he did in his first season.

I believe that Sillinger was not as good as we thought in 2021-22, and not as bad as he seemed in 2022-23.

2023-24 Outlook

Fortunately, there are several factors which put Sillinger in a much better place this season. First, the presence of Adam Fantilli means the pressure will not be on Sillinger to be the 1C of the future, or even the present. If he tops out at 2C behind Fantilli, he can still get high-end wingers on his line, but more favorable match-ups from opponents.

Second, he will have a better head coach in Mike Babcock, who is more likely to use him correctly. He gets a new chance to make a first impression in training camp.

Finally, the increased forward (and center, specifically) depth is both a blessing and a curse. The downside is there is way more competition for ice time. The advantage is Sillinger can have access to better linemates if he does make the NHL roster. If he doesn’t make the cut, he’ll have great teammates in Cleveland, too, and can get that additional AHL ice time right away. With all the injuries in the middle of last season at the center position, Sillinger had to stay in Columbus well after the point when he should have been sent down. December was when he most needed the reset and the confidence boost. Ironically, by the time he was sent down in March, he was actually starting to play much better. Someone like Dmitri Voronkov is more likely to join Sean Kuraly in the bottom 6, checking line center role, so Sillinger can focus on the offensive side in either Columbus or Cleveland.

While Sillinger deserves props for trying to round out the 200 foot game in his rookie season, I want to see more of the shot that earned attention in his junior career. As a 16 year old he scored 22 goals in 48 WHL games. He followed that up in his predraft season with 24 goals in 31 games in the USHL. Put him in the right position with the right linemates and let him score like Boone Jenner has the last two seasons.

Highlights

Not much to be found from this past season