The Columbus Blue Jackets have demoted C Cole Sillinger to the Cleveland Monsters. Or, as the organization put it, they loaned. After all, that sounds more gentle. The facts are this is a move that is way overdue and should have been made at the end of November. Last season Sillinger put together an excellent rookie season, 16 goals, 15 assists, with 31 points. The young center is a big part of the Blue Jackets future. This season Sillinger’s numbers are abysmal. There is no other way to put it, three- goals, eight assists, with just 11 points.
Playing with no confidence and being forced to continue trying to play out of a slump is a dangerous game for an organization. There are times it damages a player beyond repair. Time will tell with Sillinger how he reacts and if he can get his game back.
No matter the rash of injuries the Columbus Blue Jackets have endured this season, there is no reason to keep a young, supposed future second line center in the NHL when they are in the midst of a wicked sophomore slump. Sillinger did not get his third goal of the season until last week, and it had been 34 games since he’d scored before that.
On the bright side, Sillinger’s defense did take a step in development. He had become more responsible and helped out more. His hits went up during the season, perhaps taking out some frustration dues to a lack of overall production. The prolonged demotion is unacceptable due to the toll it had put on Sillinger.
The Blue Jackets said they wanted him in Cleveland to help the Monsters playoff push. That is laughable! Sillinger’s struggles left them no other option. Sure, Sillinger will get time on the Monsters top line and may get some playoff games under his belt. But this is clearly a reset, regardless of how the organization spins it.
The Blue Jackets will have an early first round draft pick and should get one of the top centers in the draft. That is good and all if they manage player development better. The bottom line is the organization dropped the ball with Sillinger. They had time to send him to Cleveland and let him regroup and come back and be more productive, but they chose not to do so.
A future Blue Jackets top two lines with Sillinger centering the second line is what was expected. Now the wait is on to see if too much damage has been done.
