Blue Jackets expected to activate Cole Sillinger

The Blue Jackets will have forward Cole Sillinger and defenseman Jake Christiansen available for Friday’s game against the Canucks, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. Both have been medically cleared to return from their respective injuries. The former was on injured reserve, so he’ll need to be activated, while Christiansen remained on the active roster during his absence.

Sillinger, 21, hasn’t played since the end of February. He sustained a shoulder injury on Feb. 27 against the Red Wings and missed their outdoor rematch a few days later. General manager Don Waddell immediately made clear he’d miss a few weeks, and he landed on IR a few days later to make room for winger Yegor Chinakhov’s activation. With no roster limit post-trade deadline, there won’t be a corresponding move this time.

Assuming he gets back into action against Vancouver, Sillinger will look to continue his four-year career’s most productive offensive campaign. The 2021 No. 12 overall pick hasn’t dominated, but he’s gotten his development back on track after a difficult sophomore season and has recorded a career-high 0.39 assists per game and 0.54 points per game in 2024-25. He ranks ninth on the team in scoring with 9-20–29 in 54 games, although he has a club-worst -15 rating. He’s won 46.4% of his draws, averaging 17:18 per game, sixth-most among Columbus forwards.

Shoulder injuries have been commonplace for CBJ forwards this year, ending Kevin Labanc’s campaign last month and taking huge chunks out of Erik Gudbranson’s and Boone Jenner’s seasons. The former only returned to action on Monday after sustaining a shoulder injury in October.

It’s unclear who might come out of the lineup for Sillinger. The Jackets are two points back of a wild-card spot but have the Islanders and Rangers standing in between them and Montreal. Their shootout win over the former earlier this week has their playoff chances at 13% entering tonight’s games, per MoneyPuck, and they could get some help with a Vancouver win over the Isles.

Christiansen has been out with an upper-body injury since March 13, missing five games with an upper-body injury. He’d played in Columbus’ first 65 games of the season, but with Gudbranson making his return, it stands to reason Christiansen could remain a healthy scratch despite being cleared to play. He’s averaged 12:43 per game to date, posting 1-7–8 with a plus-eight rating and 47 hits.