Photo by Jenn G from Seattle, WA, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Cole Sillinger
Columbus Blue Jackets Center #4
Thirty-three points, and a shot chart that has not moved in five seasons.
| Season | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 81 | 8 | 25 | 33 | +2 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 136 | 5.9 | 15:13 |
| Career | 367 | 51 | 89 | 140 | -58 | 177 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 663 | 7.7 | 15:03 |
Last Season
Eight goals and 25 assists in 81 games — 33 points, plus-two, at 15:13 a night.
The Finesse Game
The passing has developed and the shooting has not. Twenty-five assists is a career high; eight goals from 189 unblocked attempts is a very poor conversion, and the location explains it — 30 per cent inside twenty feet, median 28.
He was a twelfth overall pick who arrived in the league at 18 and has scored 51 goals in 367 games since. The shot was supposed to be the thing.
The Physical Game
Six foot even, 202, and he plays a hard, honest game. Thirty-seven penalty minutes. He wins faceoffs, forechecks properly, and takes defensive-zone starts, which is why he keeps his job.
The Intangibles
Fifty-three point one per cent of the expected goals, 78th percentile, in 1,096 minutes — a genuinely good number and the third-best among Columbus forwards.
One point in his last ten games, which is the sort of run that gets a fifth-year player written off.
He is 22 and has 367 NHL games, which is a strange sentence. He arrived too early, has been useful throughout, and has never taken the step the draft position implied. A third-line centre who drives play is a real asset; it is just not what a twelfth pick is for.