How Much Should The Nashville Predators Pay Colton Sissons?

With Colton Sissons without a contract, we are all left to wonder how much money he deserves, as he is an underappreciated and important part of this Nashville Predators team.

The Nashville Predators have made some key acquisitions and trades this offseason to grow their top-six offense. However, keeping the bottom six stable and equally potent is going to be key to keeping them on top of the Central division.

Colton Sissons will be an important piece to have that success moving forward for the Predators, which is why retaining him is very important.

Entering the 2016-17, Sissons agreed to a three-year, 650,000 deal that allowed him to begin proving his worth at the NHL level.

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His first two years, Sissons would post 17 goals and total 37 points in 139 games during regular season play. In the playoffs through these two years, Sissons would prove to be a vital part of the team posting 9 goals and 19 points in 35 games played.

During the 2016-17 Stanley Cup playoff run, Sissons would go on to make his name known by dominating game six of the Western Conference Finals against the Anaheim Ducks. I

n what is still his most memorable game to date, Sissons would go on to score a hat trick, sealing the deal to send the Predators to their first-ever Stanley Cup series.

In 2018-19, Sissons would go on to post his best statistical year to date in the NHL posting 15 goals and 30 points in 75 games played.

The playoffs would tell another story as he would not score a single point and found himself at a plus/minus of negative five.

Sisson’s would be entering his sixth season under the Predators control if the arbitration hearing on July 26th goes according to plan.

When trying to debate on what Sissons should earn on his next contract, we can begin by looking at his statistics individually and we can compare him to other players and their levels of production.

The majority of the year Sissons was playing on the bottom six lines and on the penalty kill. He would go to average about two minutes per game on the penalty kill and one minute per game on the power play. When taking faceoffs Sissons would win nearly 55% of his chances.

Due to injuries throughout the year, the Predators allowed Sissons to play on the top two lines where he showed he could produce positive numbers until the players would return.

When comparing his statistics firmly looking at the basics i.e. goals, assists, and minutes played Sissons matched up with Zack Kassian and Nashville’s own, Calle Jarnkrok. Both players, when offered contracts, received multi-year contracts that were worth 2 million per year.

Sissons, who will turn 26 during next year’s season, is a very interesting piece to the puzzle for Nashville. He is starting to show flashes that he is going to take that next step offensively, however, he is a critical piece for the Predators on defense.

Playing on the PK more, having limited ice time, and being on the ice when the Predators start in the defensive zone limits his offensive potential per the HockeyViz statistics below.

https://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/playerOverview/1819/NSH/sissoco93/

Another factor to his limited offense could also be who he is paired with on those bottom lines. If Sissons continues to progress and stays solid when on defense, he is a player that could see more time on the second line if Granlund or Smith do not produce.

Sissons should get a well-deserved contract as he is progressing in the right direction and has the potential to be an important player if he keeps producing positive numbers for the Predators. A multi-year contract of 2 to 3 years making between 2 to 2.5 million would be an extraordinary contract for Sissons and for the Predators.

Next. Colton SIssons 2018-19 Report Card. dark

This will allow the team to keep some salary open to allow the Predators to extend contracts to other key players in the future. Hopefully, both sides can get a deal done to keep Sissons around for a couple more years.

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