Blue Jackets prospect in a role he was born for
In the weeks leading up to the NHL draft in July, Cole Sillinger's family had a little fun making predictions about which team would select him.
Only one got it right. His oldest brother, Owen, nailed it.
“He'd been telling him for two months that he was going to be a Blue Jacket,” said Mike Sillinger, a former center who played in Columbus during one of his 12 NHL stops. “Owen just kept saying, ‘You're gonna go where you were born ... the
Columbus Blue Jackets are gonna draft ya.’ ”
It took a pre-draft trade that sent the Chicago Blackhawks’ 12th overall pick to Columbus, but that’s exactly how it went down. The youngest of Mike’s three sons, all high-level players, became a Blue Jacket. It felt a little predestined.
Cole Sillinger’s draft position was officially 12th, but he was the 11th player selected as a result of the Arizona Coyotes forfeiting the No. 11 pick. His father was selected 11th overall in 1989 by the Detroit Red Wings. Serendipity at work?
“We all had our teams that we thought might take him,” said Mike, who played two seasons for the Blue Jackets (2001-03). “Owen, though, from Day 1 he said, ‘You’re going to be a Blue Jacket.’ ”
The road ahead for Cole Sillinger
Owen and middle brother, Lukas, have returned to Bemidji State in Minnesota for another year of college, their second as collegiate teammates, and Cole is now intraverse City, Michigan, for a prospects tournament, which will be followed by his first NHL training camp.
“I’ve certainly got a lot of emotions,” the youngest Sillinger said. “I’m very nervous, very anxious, very excited, but I think I’m more excited than anything. This is my dream. This is what I wanted to do, and now that I’m fairly close, it’s just time to learn from the guys, be myself and be the player I want to be. Hopefully, everything falls into place.”
If it doesn’t happen right away, there are two other options. He could return to the Western Hockey League to play another season with the Medicine Hat Tigers, the team that still holds his junior rights, or he could play professionally for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League.
The latter option usually isn’t available to under-20 players from one of the Canadian Hockey League’s three junior circuits (WHL, OHL and QMJHL), but Sillinger is eligible for the AHL after playing last season for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the United States Hockey League, a junior league that doesn’t have an age restriction agreement with the NHL. His switch to Sioux Falls last year was made because of COVID-19 protocols in Canada that limited Medicine Hat’s schedule, and that could turn out to be a bonus for both Sillinger and the Blue Jackets now.
It’s always good to have options, even though he’s only focused on one right now.
“If the first person who believes I’m not going to play in the NHL next year is me, then I’m probably not going to do that, right?” Sillinger said. “So, I have the mindset of wanting to play in the (NHL) next year, and that’s my goal. When I’m in camp, I’m coming there to try to make the team.”
Advice from dad, an NHL veteran
Sillinger doesn’t have to look far to find somebody who has lived what he’s experiencing now.
His dad went through the same process in 1990 with the Red Wings, playing the first three games of his NHL career before being sent back for another year of junior with the WHL’S Regina Pats. If anybody knows about capitalizing on opportunities at a young age and also needing patience, it’s Mike Sillinger, who didn’t play for the Red Wings again until logging 51 games as a rookie in 1992-93.
The elder Sillinger was a superstar at the junior level, easily topping 100 points in his final three seasons with the Pats, including 50 goals and 66 assists in 1990-91.
Much like his father, Cole has logged eye-popping statistical numbers in junior, including 24-22-46 in just 31 games for Sioux Falls last season, but the NHL will present the biggest challenge yet.
The journey will officially begin in Traverse City.
“They’ve kind of said that it’s up to me if I want to earn a job, and my play at camp and my play in Traverse City is going to determine and dictate where I’m going to be this season,” Sillinger said. “They said there’s an opportunity on the line and there are jobs to be made, so I’m looking forward to giving it everything I’ve got to try to make a spot.”