Sillinger Stepping Into Blue Jackets’ Top Line Role With Fantilli Still Unsigned

The Columbus Blue Jackets wrapped up their first week of training camp, and the one of the biggest puzzle pieces still waiting to fall in place is the signing of Adam Fantilli. In his place, the media got a chance to see Cole Sillinger playing as the center, with what is projected to be the top forward line.

Sillinger was between Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko and got a chance to show off his skill and his pace between the two talented wingers. He mentioned he is in contact with Fantilli quite a bit, and he knows he wants to be in Columbus for training camp.

“I talk to him (Fantilli) most days, and we are good buddies…I just hope to see him sooner rather than later, obviously he is a big asset to our team, and an important piece to our locker room as well, the sooner he is here the better for our group,” said Sillinger.

However, in the meantime, he gets to take on a bigger role during these early team practices. Something to keep an eye on, if Fantilli remains unsigned and doesn’t play in the season opener, is how can Sillinger fill his role and elevate the forward group.

Sillinger Growing at Center

His effort has been a continual factor from last season, and that has shown up again in his training camp efforts. He is consistently involved in the forecheck and even talked about his efforts of trying to better himself through practice, especially by separating the business and the on-ice play.

“All parts of my game, I am kind of just stripping it down, and resettling in, especially after signing a three-year deal, feels like I am back to my entry level deal, but with a new perspective,” said Sillinger when speaking on his offseason plan.

He also spoke about an extra sense of urgency they have played with in training camp and practices as well. He mentioned how they have been consistently moving around and playing hard even though it is just practice.

“One thing I am noticing right away is the execution. Even in warm-up drills, everyone is connecting on passes, passing hard, moving their feet, and finishing plays. The energy has been great these last couple days,” said Sillinger.

However, this also leads to the conversation of how much of the position he has grown comfortable with, since he hasn’t been a full-time center since the end of 2024-25. He wanted head coach Rick Bowness to know that he can do it, and wants to help the team win in any way possible.

“I was more so just expressing to him (Bowness) that I can play center. It is just trusting him that he is going to put me in a position that is going help our team the most, and wanted to make it known I had played center for four years prior to him coming here,” said Sillinger.

He has experience in the spot and knows his game has another level he hasn’t reached yet. He knows he can take another step offensively and in trusting his ability. What he doesn’t want to do is put too much pressure on himself this season to make that happen.

Offensive Upside Expectation

When Sillinger was in juniors he was an offensive weapon, recording well over a point-per-game, but as soon as he got into the NHL with the Blue Jackets his scoring took an immense downturn. He has been much less of a scoring threat, but he discussed how that should change with his preparation for this season.

“I definitely believe I can provide more offense, and goals, production, finishing ability. That is something I have worked on a lot this summer, is execution in those areas, and trusting it and believing in my abilities,” said Sillinger. “I have always felt I can get myself in situations where I can get some looks, and it is just a matter of capitalizing, and the more I do that it’ll put our team in a better spot.”

Looks like this is how #CBJ lines/pairs look combining the two groups.

Johnson-Sillinger-Marchenko
Nichushkin-Monahan-Voronkov
Wood-Coyle-Olivier
Lomberg-Del Bel Belluz-Garland

Werenski-Severson
Provorov-Mateychuk
Christiansen-Gudbranson
Soucy-Fabbro

— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) September 17, 2026

In tandem with his expectations growing, he is due to be surrounded by the best talent of his career, which should only help his production further. However, chemistry concerns with so many teammates creating offseason waves has also played a factor in the locker room.

“I think both (Kirill Marchenko and Zach Werenski) of their hearts are in good spots. I talked to Z throughout the summer, and there is everything the media hears, and make their own stories, and once you hear it from teammate to teammate, you can understand it more,” said Sillinger.

As he made that comment, Marchenko came into the press room for his ensuing media appearance and started having fun at the podium with Sillinger. That should tell you all you need to know about the team’s chemistry: They are clearly all still as close as they need to be, and the chemistry concerns shouldn’t spill over onto the ice.

They begin the preseason tonight against the Detroit Red Wings and will not play the presumptive top line in the opener. Rather, Bowness will be looking to play them all together in two of the final three games before the regular season starts on Oct. 1 against the Buffalo Sabres.