Nashville Predators: Colton Sissons the Odd Man Out in Expansion Draft?

The closer we get to the NHL Expansion Draft the more clear it’s becoming that the Nashville Predators are going to lose a very valuable piece of their roster.

Some teams get fortunate in the expansion draft process and lose a player who really doesn’t fit their system anyway, or wasn’t part of the long-term plan. It doesn’t seem like the Predators are going to be that fortunate.

Nashville Predators General Manager David Poile must have his protection list turned in on July 17, so time is running out for him to make the tough decisions on who to protect. He’s in a very precarious position to protect four defensemen and four forwards, or just go the eight skaters route.

Nashville Predators have tough expansion draft dilemma

Poile might very well have his hand forced to protect five defensemen when you include Dante Fabbro and Alexandre Carrier. Either one of these young and promising defensemen would be a solid selection for the Seattle Kraken inaugural blueline.

More from Predlines

• Nashville Predators 2023 Training Camp Spotlight: Kiefer Sherwood
• Captain Candidates if Nashville Predators Didn’t Have Roman Josi
• The All-Time 25 Games or Less Nashville Predators Lineup
• Nashville Predators 2023 Training Camp Spotlight: Cody Glass
• Joakim Kemell Flashes his Offense in Nashville Predators Loss to Tampa

It seems as if Poile is in a “pick your poison” type of dilemma. That is unless the unlikely and fortunate scenario occurs that he entices Seattle’s general manager Ron Francis to pre-select either Matt Duchene or Ryan Johansen. We’re all hoping that Poile somehow pulls this deal off, but I  have my serious doubts.

Losing either Carrier or Fabbro will be a painful blow to the recharging of the Predators blueline. Aside from Roman Josi and Mattias Ekholm, there’s a lot of uncertainty and/or inexperience in this group.

Yes, Ryan Ellis has loads of experience and has the caliber to be a top line defender, but he’s also left a lot to be desired.

Poile is probably going to have to protect five defensemen, meaning an important forward is going to likely be lost, as fellow Predlines contributor Max Ritz outlined. Who that forward will be is certainly up for debate.

Which exposed player will make sense for Seattle?

I’ve been saying this for a while now and am holding strong to my prediction that it’s going to be Colton Sissons that the Nashville Predators lose to the Seattle Kraken. He just seems like the odd man out at this point.

If you protect five defensemen, then it really leaves Poile in a difficult spot. He has to protect Filip Forsberg, first and foremost. So now he has two skaters left that he can protect.

Is Poile really locked onto Sissons enough to leave Luke Kunin exposed?  I’m not convinced of that. Kunin was an instrumental piece to the Predators surging into the playoffs, aside from Juuse Saros, of course.

The trade for Kunin also proved to be a brilliant move by Poile, so I can’t see him letting that go after one season, which was a successful one. Kunin has to be protected.

One slot left, and maybe it comes down to either Calle Jarnkrok or Sissons. Whichever one doesn’t get protected in this scenario, the Kraken likely take. It’s that simple.

Jarnkrok remains one of the better offensive threats on the team among the forwards, outside of Forsberg and Mikael Granlund. We’re not even entirely sure Granlund is returning, and Duchene is more of a distributor when he’s locked in to his best hockey.

Sure, there’s others that could be taken like Rocco Grimaldi, Nick Cousins or Yakov Trenin, but that would be a curious move by Seattle to take any of those players over a defensive-minded veteran forward like Sissons.

Sissons could instantly come into the fold for the Kraken and even get top-six minutes and flourish with a new team. At the very worst, he’d provide them with defensive skills, penalty killing and veteran experience.

If I’m wrong and the Predators protect Sissons, then you’re looking at the possibility of losing Jarnkrok, Kunin or an rising defensemen like Fabbro or Carrier. That protection list will be very telling.

Losing Sissons would be a major blow to the Predators depth, but I don’t see who else they can leave unprotected over him.

This is one of those situations where you hope you’re wrong in your thinking, but either way, the Predators will have a void to fill going into 2021-22. Take your best shot, Kraken. It’s going to hurt regardless.