money Sillinger will 'take it as a compliment' if Columbus Blue Jackets opt against world juniors
Cole Sillinger is the last one standing.
All of his peers from the 2021 NHL draft class are playing at the collegiate level, in juniors or European leagues, but Sillinger — an 18-year-old Blue Jackets rookie — remains a lineup fixture in Columbus. He’s been a top-nine forward from the start, has gained experience centering each of the Jackets’ top three lines and appears to be handling it fine.
That’s why Sillinger was preparing to face the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday at Nationwide Arena rather than skating in Calgary during the first day of Canada’s selection camp for the 2022 world junior championships, a tournament that will take place Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.
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Sillinger, who’s from the western Canadian city of Regina, would almost certainly be snapped up by Hockey Canada if made available. It’s starting to look like that might not happen, though. Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen gave no update on the situation when asked Thursday, but there is a reason Sillinger is still with the Blue Jackets and not among the 35 players in Canada’s training camp.
He’s a little busy right now.
“The goal of everyone in world juniors is to play in the NHL, right?” said Sillinger. “So, if I’m playing a prominent role (here) and the Columbus staff sees me as an NHL player, full-time, and doesn’t loan me, I think that’s a compliment to me in a way.”
In a big way.
Sillinger is the NHL’s youngest player and has beaten fairly long odds to still be in the league at this stage. Only two other players from the 2021 draft have logged NHL time this season, Anaheim’s Mason McTavish (third overall) and San Jose’s William Eklund (sixth overall), and each was assigned to a different league after nine games.
Those moves pushed the official start of their entry-level contracts to next season, while the Blue Jackets happily marched right past the nine-game “slide” deadline with Sillinger. They will continue monitoring his development, weighing concerns about mental or physical fatigue against continuing to mature at the NHL level, but for now, Sillinger is a key part of the Jackets’ everyday lineup.
He hasn’t missed a game, is averaging 13:56 in ice time and has 10 points on five goals and five assists. Sillinger has also logged minutes with the Jackets’ second power-play unit and continues to be one of their best at creating scoring chances, which has resulted in some important goals — including one Sunday to help the Blue Jackets defeat the San Jose Sharks.
Competing for Canada at the world junior championships is a special honor in that country, which follows it intently from coast-to-coast.
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Kent Johnson, whom the Blue Jackets selected fifth overall in July, paused his sophomore season at the University of Michigan to attend Canada's camp this week along with Wolverines teammate Owen Power. McTavish is there too.
At the start of his 17-year NHL career in 1991, Sillinger’s father and former Blue Jackets forward, Mike, played for Canada at the world junior championship, and others have told the rookie center how memorable their Team Canada experiences were.
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The difference is that none of them, his dad included, have or had significant NHL roles at the time.
“That’s a phenomenal tournament, which so many young Canadians grow up watching,” said Sillinger, who missed Canada’s gold medal run at the U18 world championships in Frisco, Texas, this spring after coming down with COVID-19. “I’ve had a couple buddies go through (world juniors) and just the experience they had, it’s awesome. At the same time, the NHL is a great life as well.”
According to Hockey Canada's camp schedule, the last practice of world juniors camp is slated for Monday in Calgary. The final tournament roster might be decided by that point or soon after.
Forbes report shows value gains for Blue Jackets’ ownership
Forbes Magazine’s annual valuation report about NHL teams is out this week and it shows significant gains for Blue Jackets majority owner John P. McConnell and his ownership group.
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Despite ranking 30th among 32 teams, the Blue Jackets are now valued at $475 million, per the report’s calculations, which represents a one-year increase of 53% and five-year gain of 94%. The valuations were calculated using each team’s equity plus net debt, including “the economics of each team’s arena deal, but not the value of the real estate itself.”
The one-time $22 million revenue-sharing payments that all but the Vegas Golden Knights received from the Seattle Kraken’s $650 million expansion fee was not included.
Blue Jackets recall Bemstrom, assign Harrington to Cleveland Monsters
Scott Harrington is about to play in the American Hockey League for the first time since logging two games for the Cleveland Monsters in October 2016.
Harrington, 28, cleared waivers Wednesday and was assigned to the Monsters after a long stretch out of the Blue Jackets’ lineup. Kekalainen indicated the move was to get Harrington back on the ice into game action, which hadn’t happened in the NHL since Oct. 31 in New Jersey. Harrington will join the Monsters in time to play in road games Friday against the Utica Comets and Saturday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
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The Blue Jackets recalled forward Emil Bemstrom from Cleveland to fill Harrington’s roster spot. Bemstom, 22, strained an oblique muscle in the preseason and hasn’t logged a regular-season game for Columbus this season. He had one goal and a minus-four plus/minus rating in three games for the Monsters.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets have choice to make with Cole Sillinger and world juniors
