Sillinger determined to bust prolonged slump
Larsen: ‘He’s a teenager. We keep forgetting that’
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 entering Tuesday’s game at Pittsburgh.
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?’ ”
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 NHL’S youngest player, after the Jackets selected him 12th 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.”
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.”