Cole Sillinger avoids arbitration, agrees to 3-year, $13.8M deal with Blue Jackets

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The Columbus Blue Jackets avoided arbitration by reaching an agreement to sign forward Cole Sillinger to a three-year, $13.875 million contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Friday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been announced. The signing was first reported by Sportsnet.ca.

The 23-year-old Sillinger opted for arbitration earlier this month, with the agreement reached before his scheduled hearing on Monday. Sillinger, the team’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft, is from Columbus and has five years of NHL experience.

Sillinger was a fixture on the team’s third line in making the switch from center to left wing last season, and finished with a career best-matching 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists). Overall, he has 51 goals and 140 points in 367 career games.

Also on Friday, the Florida Panthers avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to sign newly acquired goalie Akira Schmid to a two-year, $4 million contract.

Florida acquired the 26-year-old Schmid by trading a 2028 third-round pick to Vegas on June 29 as part of an offseason goalie shakeup.

The team acquired goalie Jacob Markstrom in a trade with New Jersey a day later. The additions were made in anticipation of Florida losing long-time starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who has since signed with Toronto in free agency.

Schmid is from Switzerland and posted career-highs with 29 starts and 16 wins in his fifth NHL season last year.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl