Columbus Blue Jackets' Cole Sillinger scores a hat trick against Vegas Golden Knights' Logan Thompson during the second period of the Blue Jackets 6-4 win over Vegas on March 13, in Columbus, Ohio. -- AP PHOTO JAY LAPRETE
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Cole Sillinger is watching this year’s NHL playoffs with a purpose: to play in them next season.
The 18-year-old – 19 on May 16 – played more NHL games this season with the Columbus Blue Jackets than junior hockey games in the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Sillinger was asked in his end-of-season presser about that fact and was surprised to learn the game difference. When he spoke with the News on May 2, Sillinger was still surprised.
“That’s very uncommon to play two short seasons and then going to the NHL,” Sillinger said. “Looking back on it I mean those two seasons in Medicine Hat and then Sioux Falls, they are prime pieces in my development and then this year play a lot more games at a higher level. I managed pretty well and certainly ready to play 20 more in the playoffs, that’d be awesome. Hopefully years down the road we’ll have a lot more games to play and more important games to play.”
In his first NHL season, the Columbus-born forward had 16 goals and 31 points in 79 games. During his brief tenure as a Tiger, Sillinger played only 52 games and accumulated 22 goals and 55 points.
Sillinger said he’s happy with his rookie season in the NHL as he battled the ups and downs of the year.
“We had a younger group this year, as a team we kind of exceeded expectations and had a pretty good year,” Sillinger said. “Going into the year I didn’t really have any expectations myself as far as statistics and stuff like that, I just tried to develop and to help the Blue Jackets win games wherever that may be – defensive side of the puck, offensive side of the puck, face-off circle. I did a pretty good job with that and pretty happy with the season this year.”
Since speaking with the News, Sillinger was named to Canada’s roster for the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championship in Finland.
Once he returns from the tournament, Sillinger will likely be found on the golf course, which is his top activity away from hockey. He’s not shy to say that he’s a good golfer and will play a round once every two days in the summer after his training his done. Between spending time with family and at the lake to clear his mind, Sillinger said he’s looking to work on his entire game this off-season.
“I’m going to try to improve everything, my foot speed, my overall strength, my explosive power. I think by doing those things, it will translate to the ice,” Sillinger said. “Then we’ll break down my season and the minor details like face-offs, positioning and stuff like that will help me jump right into things starting next year.”
Sillinger could go against some familiar faces next season in the NHL in Lukas Svejkovsky and Garin Bjorklund, two former Tigers teammates who have signed NHL deals in 2022. Sillinger said he reached out to both of them when they signed their contracts and was not surprised to see them put pen to paper.
With the Tigers holding the first overall pick in this year’s WHL prospects draft, Sillinger, the 2021 12th overall pick in the NHL draft and 11th overall in the 2018 WHL draft, said his advice to whoever the Tigers pick is to make the most of the opportunity and have the mindset of “what can I do now to get to the next level.”
“I was always going to have the mindset of wanting it to happen, to show the hard work that was put into the past and the real work starts,” Sillinger said. “Have the right mindset of how can I make most of this opportunity and take advantage of it. I know Willie (Desjardins) and the Tigers organization are really excited for this up-coming draft, kind of a little reset and I think they’ll get back on track this season.”
