Blue Jackets sign Cole Sillinger to three-year contract

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed one of their two notable remaining restricted free agents, as according to multiple reports, the club has agreed to terms on a three-year contract with forward Cole Sillinger.

According to Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Sillinger’s new contract will carry a salary cap hit of $4.625 million.

Sillinger, who was chosen with the No. 12 overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, has been remarkably consistent in terms of his raw offensive production, putting up 32, 33 and 33 points in each of the past three seasons.

The 2025-26 campaign was his healthiest, as he appeared in 81 games while scoring 8 goals and handing out 25 assists, while the year prior in 2024-25 was his most productive on a per-game basis, seeing him post the same 33 points in just 66 appearances.

For his entire NHL career, the 23-year-old has 51 goals, 89 assists and 140 points in 367 career appearances.

The Sillinger signing leaves general manager Don Waddell with approximately $14.495 million in space under the upper limit of the salary cap, according to PuckPedia.

Waddell still has to sign restricted free agent center Adam Fantilli to a new contract. Fantilli, who was chosen third overall in the 2023 NHL Draft behind Connor Bedard (five years at $15 million per year with the Chicago Blackhawks) and Leo Carlsson (five years at $18 per million with the Anaheim Ducks via an offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers), has been less impactful than his two draft peers, but could still take up nearly all of that cap space after Carlsson and Bedard set the market.

The Blue Jackets are coming off of their sixth consecutive year without appearing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which is tied with Chicago for the third-longest drought in the league behind Detroit and San Jose.