Nashville Predators: Is Colton Sissons Ready for a Breakout Season?

Colton Sissons is known for his gritty defensive play and has been a key utility man on the Nashville Predators roster over the last three seasons.

Showing glimpses of offensive power, most notably his hat trick in game 6 vs the Anaheim Ducks in the 2017 playoffs, is this year Sissons finally breaks out as a cornerstone player for the Nashville Predators?

The Upside of Sissons:

Over the past three seasons, Sissons production has steadily increased, including a career-high of 15 goals last season.

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His defensive skillset makes a big impact on the Preds on the ice and he was missed when he was injured last December.

Utility Man:

Sissons has been the Preds go-to utility man, being able to play wing or center on any line proves his irreplaceable value to this team.

Sissons has been a crucial part of the penalty kill each of the last three seasons and is usually dominant in the faceoff circle.

Additionally, the chemistry Sissons has with his teammates is irreplaceable and is shown by how he can be paired with any guy on the ice and still be successful.

Potential Line on Opening Night:

One name that seems to go with Colton Sissons is Calle Jarnkrok, just like peanut butter and jelly you don’t usually have one without the other.

These two seem to boost each other’s play. However, Sissons’s best play last season came while paired with Kyle Turris and Craig Smith, which could make a case for being the Preds 3rd line this season.

Most likely Sissons will be paired with Jarnkrok and Watson on the fourth line opening night, but Laviolette has shown he likes to move pieces of the puzzle so it will be interesting to see who Sissons is paired with at the beginning of the season.

New Contract:

In July, Sissons signed a new deal with the Preds for 7 years and roughly 2.85 million AAV, which is a very cap-friendly contract.

This is very good for the versatile defensive player he is, and if he can continue to improve his point totals as he has the previous three seasons, this contract will be a slam dunk for GM David Poile.

Up and Coming Leader:

When inking his new contract in July, David Poile noted that Sissons is an up-and-coming leader on this roster, which he highly values.

Sissons toughness and competitiveness are displayed every time he is on the ice but one underrated part of his game is his leadership, not only on the ice but also in the locker room.

Sissons will play a key role in helping develop the younger guys coming into the system such as Rem Pitlick, Egor Afanasyev, Philip Tomasino, and Eeli Tolvanen.

Secondary Scoring:

A notable issue for the Preds last season (Yes, besides the power play) was secondary scoring.

Sissons needs to be a big contributor in the secondary scoring department this season for the Preds to be successful.

He has not hit his ceiling yet and he needs to prove that on that stat sheet this year.

Reasonable Expectations:

As long as Sissons can keep improving it is reasonable to put an expected goal total and assist total at 20 apiece, meaning he should be a 40 point guy this year.

40 points last season would have been 7th on the Preds roster right behind Ryan Ellis and just two points above Craig Smith.

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With a new contract and more offensive weapons, this could be the year that Colton Sissons has a breakout season.

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