Nashville Predators Grades: Colton Sissons Has a Setback Year

The future was looking extremely bright for Colton Sissons after the 2017 playoffs when he scored a hat trick for the Nashville Predators.

Since then, Sissons has kind of been stuck in neutral. It was a season of ups and downs for the Nashville Predators, and Sissons struggled to stand out.

Sissons is an important player to the bottom six of the roster. He also has a versatile skill set that allows him to be moved all over the lineup. But he’s mainly a bottom six role player.

The third line was a high point of the Predators with the main trio of Nick Bonino, Craig Smith and Rocco Grimaldi. They fueled the engine when the rest of the team was stuck in the mud.

Little to no impact

I just didn’t see Sissons stick out and make any sort of big impact on the team this season. We know the potential is there for him to take it to the next level, but he just hasn’t done that.

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Sissons did miss 12 games from the end of December to the end of January, which was a time period when the Predators were fighting to keep their heads above water.

Even with those 12 games missed, Sissons’ production just isn’t at the level it should be at this point in his career. He managed just nine goals and six assists in 57 games.

I don’t expect Sissons to morph into an elite goal scorer or to carry the team, but this lack of production makes it hard to even make a case for him on the fourth line.

Let’s be real. There are other guys in Milwaukee that can be called up and make bigger impacts than 15 points in 57 games.

After Sissons returned on January 30th, he tallied just two goals and no assists to round out what looks like will be the end of the season.

Sissons has never really had strong possession metrics in his six-year NHL career, but the fact that there’s been no gradual improvement in this area is concerning. A 45.4 Corsi for percentage is a decrease from the last two seasons.

When looking over the entirety of the development of Sissons, I’m just not seeing anything more than a borderline fourth line player. I’m not saying it’s time to give up on him, but I definitely expected more rapid development from the 2012 second-round draft pick.

Stay committed

Sissons has a lengthy contract remaining with the Predators that extends to 2025-26.  So the Predators have to be committed in his development, but as of now I’m seeing a player who needs to improve much more next season to justify a roster spot.

The season actually started off strong for Sissons in terms of production as he had 12 points by November 23rd and was looking like the player I expect him to be at this point in his career.

Check out this backhand goal from Sissons way back on October 15th against Vegas that is an example of where he thrives, which is in front of the net and creating traffic:

With all of this said, you do have to take into minor account that the lower-body injury he took on December 27th disrupted his season, much like I said in Viktor Arividsson’s grade.

The coaching change from Peter Laviolette to John Hynes occurred while Sissons was out, and when Sissons returned to the lineup the team was just starting to build chemistry under Hynes.

It’s obviously no time to give up on Sissons and he has the skills to rebound into a 30-point type scorer that can bring a positive impact on the bottom six.

There’s still hope that Sissons can become the 20 to 30-point scorer who can play well in the bottom six and play well with younger players that will eventually be called up. With six years of experience, he needs to have that veteran leadership presence.

I haven’t lost hope in Sissons to figure it out and become the player we call know he can be. He’s a leader on the ice and very important to the future of the team.

That jump needs to be witnessed next season from Sissons, because this season was one that was stuck in neutral for the growth of his career. He has a ton of potential, but it didn’t translate in 2019-20.