Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger staying confident

On Mar 7, 2023

Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger skates ahead of Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn.

Great anticipation created the play.

Late in the first period of the Blue Jackets’ 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken Friday at Nationwide Arena, Eric Robinson and Cole Sillinger teamed up for a breakaway. Robinson chipped a loose puck past Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn to center ice. Sillinger, reading Robinson’s eyes, turned on the jets and batted it forward to win the race by a couple of strides.

The only thing between the Blue Jackets’ 19-year old center and his first goal since Nov. 17 was goalie Philipp Grubauer, who first made a chest save on a shot Sillinger intended for the top right corner and then soaked up a follow-up wrister three seconds later.

“I couldn’t seem to settle it down,” Sillinger said. “I tried to pick the top right corner and it rolls right over my stick and goes, basically, right into his chest pad.”

That’s mostly how it has gone for him this entire season, beginning with an upper-body injury just 20 minutes into the first practice of training camp. Missing all but two preseason games, Sillinger got off to a slow start and still hasn’t stopped a sophomore slump from snowballing into a massive ball of frustration.

Sillinger hadn’t scored in 41 games, and his breakaway against Seattle, one of several recent eye-rolling missed opportunities, vividly stands out. It’s the freshest.

“I wanted to go up top with it, high glove … just a little flick, kind of what Johnny (Gaudreau) does, right?” Sillinger said. “I think I have that shot in my bag. So, it is frustrating and all that, but what are you going to do? Are you just going to roll over and quit and say, ‘I can’t do this anymore?’ ”

Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger keeps slump in perspective

Sillinger’s maturity is one of his biggest strengths.

Physically, he’s got the body of an established NHL player. Mentally, despite the goal drought, Sillinger is doubling down on his self-confidence. As a rookie, that trait helped him become and remain the NHL’s youngest player, after the Blue Jackets selected him 12^th overall in the 2021 draft.

“I’m 19,” Sillinger said. “I’m not too worried about it. I’m confident I can score goals and I know I’ve produced at every level. Last year, I had 16 (even-strength) goals and I know I can get back to that level.”

It’s an outlook that impresses his older teammates, coaches and the team’s front office.

Despite “papering” Sillinger to the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League last week and recalling him before the NHL trade deadline, a move that makes Sillinger eligible for the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs, the Blue Jackets have refrained from assigning him to the minors.

One reason is related to a shortage of NHL centers caused by a season-long spate of injuries. The other is a belief that Sillinger will grow from what he’s experiencing.

“He’s a teenager,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “We keep forgetting that. We may look back on this, three or four years from now, and go, ‘This was the best thing that could’ve happened to this kid.’ Nobody wants to go through this, but it’s how you handle it. I think ‘Silly’ has handled it very well in a tough circumstance.”

Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger shooting less, missing more

Looking at Sillinger’s two NHL seasons, there are similarities.

His usage is about the same, skating 13-plus minutes a game and starting in the offensive zone more than 55% of the time. His faceoff percentage has dipped slightly, about 1%, but still hovers around 45% at even-strength.

The biggest differences are in goals, assists and points plus a range of secondary stats like shots on goal, attempts, shooting percentage and shots-through percentage — which measures attempts that aren’t blocked or miss the net.

Through 57 games, Sillinger had two goals, six assists and eight points while posting a paltry 2.5% shooting percentage that’s 8.3% below his rookie level (10.8%). He’s also averaging 2.8 attempts per game, down from 3.2, and his 47.3% shots-through percentage at even-strength is 10.1% lower than his rookie level of 57.4%, a direct correlation of missing the target more.

According to Hockey Reference, Sillinger missed the net 53 times on 254 attempts last season (20.8%) and has missed on 40 of 161 attempts this year (24.8%). In other words, he’s shooting the puck less and missing the net more.

“Things haven’t gone like this before for me,” Sillinger said. “I feel like last year, most things I shot went on net. This year, I could shoot it more, especially in these times.”