If you are a Nashville Predators fan, there are many reasons to like third (and sometimes fourth) line forward Colton Sissons. He’s one of the best penalty killers on the team (save for Austin Watson), he wins around 54% of face-offs, and is an overall true two-way player. Sissons has subtly made himself more valuable this year.

What Has He Done Differently This Year?

Through 20 games this year, he has 4 goals, 4 assists, and a +/- rating of +13. Comparatively speaking to his 2017-2018 campaign through 19 games, he had 2 goals with 4 assists and +/- rating of 1. He’s dabbled in the first and fourth lines, but Sissons mainly resides on the third line with forwards Nick Bonino and Ryan Hartman. (Up until recently, of course)

Point totals thus far may be the same, but there’s something significant about his +/- rating. Teams aren’t scoring when Sissons is on the ice. He has only had one game with a negative rating, (Nashville’s 5-4 loss against San Jose on November 13th). He sees less playing time than the first and second line, yet he is tied in +/- rating with Bonino.

Somehow, someway, Sissons is contributing both offensively and defensively every time his skates hit the ice.

Prior to Saturday night, all of his points this year had come on the road. He registered two assists in the win against the Kings. In spite of this, he has netted the game winning goal in both games he’s lit the lamp. In addition to those odd stats, he hasn’t been severely penalized this year- only nine total minutes in the box. 

Sissons netted his second career regular season hat trick against the Colorado Avalanche. Scoring two 5 on 5 goals in the first period, he grazed a one-timer from Kyle Turris while the Predators were on the man-advantage, and he was credited with the goal.

He’s in good company right now: the only other Predators this year with a hat trick are Filip Forsberg and Calle Jarnkrok.

 

Only Getting Better

Sissons has progressively expanded his point totals and games played through his four seasons in the NHL. Most every offensive category, (most importantly, goals, assists and points) has improved. In 208 games in the NHL, he has 53 total points and 27 goals. However, his tenure in the AHL was a completely different story. In 176 games in Milwaukee, he scored 58 goals and recorded an astounding 105 points.

Go figure.

His performance in the 2016-2017 playoffs landed him a starting spot for the 2017-2018 regular season. In the absence of Ryan Johansen and Mike Fisher, Sissons was thrust onto the first line for Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. He became Smashville’s hero that night after netting his first career postseason hat trick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XpwKurfmC4

Let the reminiscing begin.

Sissons started in all games but one last year. He was paired with Bonino and Watson through most of last year- all three forwards were superb penalty killers. As a primary third line starter on Nashville’s first penalty kill unit, he is clearly a defensive forward. But the question at hand is simply as stated: can he deliver more offense to the team?

Fixing What Might Be Broke

Sissons’ offensive capabilities at forward have been smothered in the recent years by the rise of Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala, and the streaky scoring surges from Forsberg and Craig Smith. His role at center has otherwise been preoccupied by the more offensively productive Ryan Johansen and Kyle Turris.

To put this into perspective, the top six forwards last year had at least 42 points last year. Sissons had 27.

This year might be a different story.

In the recent light of Arvidsson missing 6-8 weeks with a broken thumb, the Predators need some solidarity in their lineup. The unexpected productivity of Ryan Hartman should earn him a place on the first line. The addition of Austin Watson is crucial to their third and fourth lines, but the second line is a quandary at the moment.

One might see Turris’ 14 points, Smith’s 9 points, and Fiala’s 9 points and think it’s a productive line- however, their combined +/- rating is a shocking -4. As a line, they’ve allowed the most high danger shots against compared to the other three line combinations.

One guy could solve that issue: Colton Sissons.

With his outstanding defensive awareness, Sissons might bring a new element to the second line that is much needed. Moving him to the second line would not only be beneficial for the team, it would give Sissons the chance for a more offensive role.

 

Is This Hypothetical A Good Idea?

The reason Sissons deserves a shot right now is primarily because Arvidsson will be gone for awhile, and he will now be missing a minimum of 20 games.

The Predators need a jump start from someone, seeing how their sparkplug will be gone until late December. Hartman is the best fit for the first line, but Sissons is only getting better by the year, and #10 can contribute more if he were given the opportunity to be in the top six.

If Sissons and Hartman were given first and second line roles, here’s how that could theoretically work.

 

Forsberg-Johansen-Hartman  (45 points, +28)

Smith-Turris-Sissons (32 points, +15)

Watson-Bonino-Fiala (19 points, +7)

Rinaldo-Jarnkrok-Salomaki (11 points, +11)

 

In all honesty, is there any reason not to give Sissons a chance? Fiala may be a more skilled skater, but he doesn’t have the physical edge that Sissons has. It would be unwise to misuse a hidden, unproven offensive talent such as Sissons in the face of a midseason crisis plagued by injury and inconsistency.

Maybe, like in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals (arguably the best Nashville Predators game in the history of the organization), all the Predators have to do is give Colton Sissons a chance to prove what he’s got. A sign of this may have been seen Saturday night against Los Angeles where Sissons racked up 20:19 time on ice including 3:20 on the power play.