Sillinger’s puck skill in tight areas is elite and the creativity of his arsenal is quite impressive. What is unique and interesting about him that enables success is how well he sees the ice and how he plans his approach. In support he’s constantly above the puck, hunting for an opportunity. This bird’s eye view from Sillinger allows him to surf above pucks battles, survey opportunities from high to low and funnel down into space behind coverage, often undetected and ready to make a play on first touch with a quick catch and release play. His aggression to attack space and model rocket approach to building speed is a quick way for him to mask the shortcomings of his skating abilities and attack downhill by timing plays and attacking defenders with manipulative maneuvers in hopes of catching them rooted down and not able to stick with him. His support in the defensive zone is a noticeable feature of his game, he doesn’t simply offer passive support. He keeps mobile through support and makes himself a clear option for teammates before making a good exit, or outlet pass. He can receive passes behind his split stride so smoothly or touch a pass to a teammate. Sillinger’s attacks often in forward strides and in tight areas shows limited dexterity in gaining room off the inside shoulder of defenders to beat them clean although he shows the proper patience to wait for the cue to make his move. He can push pace when he is busting his butt to join the rush or back check but naturally his stance and form is lacking dynamism. He’s got poor ankle flexion and a choppy stride, using relatively few crosses in place of sluggish forward strides which limits explosiveness and deceptive elements linear crossovers would. His skating stride during a glide is a fairly wide but when he’s accelerating, he could widen his pushes more to reach a fuller extension. It doesn’t seem to hinder him too much on push races when he’s springing the d-zone though as he gets to a strong, powerful pace, but it will be something to work on. With the delay of the WHL season, Sillinger opted to head to the USHL, where an impressive season has boosted his draft stock over the year.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide