Nashville Predators Need Colton Sissons for a Successful “Reset” | NHL Podcast
the Nashville Predators had some unexpected success this season but how did Colton sisin and Mark Janowski impact the team in 2023 2024 we’re going to award them their season superlatives on today’s lock on Predators podcast your locked on Predators your daily podcast on the Nashville Predators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to the locked on Predators podcast and thank you for making us your first listen of the day we are your free daily Nashville Predators podcast we’re a part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day want to kick off this episode with a shout out to our locked on pred heads those are our everyday listeners who tune in to talk Nashville Predators hockey with us we appreciate your support and we love that we get to spend just a little little bit of your day with you I’m an Kimmel I am a writer at Penalty Box radio and I have a partner in crime you do I’m Emma lingan and I’m the Predators site editor and reporter for the hockey news on today’s show Emma and I are going to continue our season superlatives we have talked about Andrew brunette we’ve talked about Barry trotz we’ve talked about our top-line players our fourth line players but now em and I are going in the weeds we are going to take a closer look at what we call a very mushy middle six so we’re going to kick it off talking about the seasons of Colton ciens and Mark Janowski we’re going to give them their season superlatives and talk about what we want to see more of from these two quote middle-aged centers next season before we dive into all that do want to let you know today’s episode is brought to you by indeed there is no I in team but there is one in indeed and that’s the hiring platform you need to build yours start hiring now with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post at indeed.com lockon terms and conditions apply need to hire you need indeed well Emma it has been an up and down season when we look at the Nashville Predators and kind of that middle six roster there have been all sorts of changes in there you know with the TR deadline and adding a couple pieces but also just who’s in the lineup who’s not in the lineup it’s been a little bit of a a hot mess in that middle six for the Nashville Predators and what is so frustrating I feel like as we watch these postseason games you so need your middle six it’s so important yeah especially when you’ve got you know vancs eight foot tall defenseman shutting down your top line and then no one else is scoring then yeah You’ really like those guys to show up yeah a a little bit of something from the middle six would be fantastic and you know some of them I think have had pretty good Seasons some of them oh gosh some of them really struggled um and we’re going to cover that on another upcoming episode too but today we’re GNA talk about Colton sisss and Mark Janowski we’re g to kick it off with Colton sissons cens had an 81 Game season only missed one game 15 goals 20 assists 35 points this was a career season in a lot of aspects for Colton CIS so Emma what season superlative do you award to Colton ciens so I would say because of everything you just mentioned like career year but I feel like we still never hear about him I would say Colton szin is like most likely to be a secret agent like he is so like his personality fits it too like he’s so stoic like very stoneface and he like has a very he’s very quiet softspoken he has like a dry sense of humor but it’s also like the way that he gets so underrated I think as a two-way player but and we’ve really seen his offensive game take off this year I just my biggest gripe about this season though was that he did not set a new career-high in goals he got he got to 15 which was his career high that he set in 201819 and I’m like oh come on and he just sat at that 15 come on col like we need it’s a career season in points which is fantastic love it for him um but he’s just such an underrated guy I think in the media and he really does fly under the radar very well um although it was interesting when when Jason’s Zer came and I asked him about like what’s it like playing on a line with Colton sizin cuz he’s kind of underrated and he kind of looked at me and he was like maybe to you guys like maybe in the media he’s underrated but like people in the league like players know him they know who he is and it’s like that’s a guy that you don’t want to match up against and so I think that that is telling at least he is getting you know recognition somewhere but I yeah like very underrated very under the radar but like one of the the best Like Glue guys you could have yes a team yeah when I look at Colton ciens not just this season but just in general with the Nashville Predators but you know we can talk specifically about this season for me his superlative is most likely to be a human Swiss army knife because there is just nothing there is nothing Colton sistens can’t do I feel like he is one of those guys where Andrew brunette could say man we are in a pickle we need somebody to do this hey Colton can you come do this or hey we need to make an adjustment what’s the best person to go with the flow on that and make the most of it Colton sistens like I call him to my husband and I say this with love and and zero judgment so take it in in the spirit of love but I always I refer to Colton sistens as the poor man’s Ryan O’Reilly because he does everything he does everything he does and he like he makes guys better around him like why do you think to your point like he’s the guy that you put in a tough situation or you you you know you need someone consistent someone reliable why do you think he’s the guy after the trade deadline they brought in two new Wingers and put them on his line that’s why and and I asked Andrew brunette about that and he even said that it’s like yeah Siz is the guy that like he will be the glue and he will like hold it together and he he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes he is so I mean he’s good in his own Zone but he’s also really reliable defensively yes and he you know obviously he doesn’t get a ton of attention or recognition because he’s not a volume scorer uh and and that’s okay though that’s not his game and I think that you know if we’re being honest and I love Colton sizin like as a person as a player he is one of one of my favorites and I will I will Champion him all day but I think we can all admit Colton sizin is not a 2C he’s not a second line Center he had to play that role this year like towards the end of the year and in the playoffs because there really wasn’t another option yeah um but again that goes back to your point you ask him to do something and he will do it and so that’s where you know I feel like people might look at him and think oh he underperformed because you need more from your second line Center all true but if we’re being honest he’s really not he’s more of a third line Center um yeah and and I think that you know he did his best like he he did what he could and and I really like his game I love the consistency in his game I love how he’s so reliable um you know just to Anchor whatever line he’s on he is like the I don’t even know like I don’t know why this analogy just came into my head I feel like there’s something way better you could come up with but pardon my brain after this holiday weekend um he’s like the Mr Potato Head and like you can you can go with it Emma you can like change out all the different pieces and stuff but like the the body like the center Remains the Same like that’s right again do you see where I’m going with that I do you can put a mustache on him you can put a hat on him you can put glasses on him but he’s still Mr Potato Head and like the H you could change out the hands or put the hands in different places and like it he’s still going to be the same like he is going to be him and you can count on him as an anchor and he’s still going to hold all those pieces together no matter where they are or what they are I feel like we just gave Colton sistens a new nickname that he will want literally zero part of oh he will want no part of it um oh my gosh it is a great analogy because you you have at Colton cis’s Corp a player who can do a potato aato you have for a potato make a ton of things out of a potato exactly no I just yeah I think it my point is that like you have all these interchangeable parts that you can take out and you can put them in different places or have them do like doing different things but he is still G to hold them all together and he’s gonna be the the nucleus of that so there you go you heard it here first folks thank you for humoring me I’m sure had I had time well not that I didn’t have time I just had I used my time better I could have come up with a better an knowy I think that that is inspiring I think it’s inspiring thank you so we look at Colton s stats you talked about it tied his career high and goals oh my gosh colon assistence you were right there um but he had a career-high in assists a career high in points um he had the most ice time average ice time of his career which I thought was great he also took more shots this season than he has in any other season but I love this Colton sistens plays on the power play he plays on the penalty kill he can play any position that you put him in there is really not much Colton sens can’t do and the other thing is that he is reliable there are very few moments where you look back at a a game this season and really you could say this for a stretch of Colton cis’s career there are very few moments where you look and you go man Colton cist made a big mistake because he just doesn’t he he just knows what to do and like you said he may not be your 2C guy but he knows what to do and and he does what what the team needs he does it well yeah I think that he you know it’s f that you brought up the you can’t look at things and say oh he made a mistake people love in that what was it game four against uh Vancouver when he hit the he missed the wide open net and people oh I got so mad because everyone was like he should have had that and they would have won no how about they score more goals like earlier and then we wouldn’t have been in this situation that’s right can’t all be on him yeah and if you look at that play he was covered it was a a really bad angle shot I think he was maybe even on his backhand like y’all cut he was on his back yeah so y’all just I’m gonna need you to step back yeah like he did what he could he tried that’s right Potato Head great I love it leave Mr Potato Head Alone come on oh gosh coming up we’re going to talk about some other contributions from colon since we’re also going to talk about what we would love to see from him next season and of course we are going to talk about Mark Janowski and how he performed with the Nashville Predators in his time in Nashville first want to let you know today’s episode is brought to you by indeed there is no I in team but there is one in indeed and that is the hiring platform you need to build yours when you’re hiring you need indeed indeed is the hiring platform where you can attract interview and hire all in one place they streamline hiring with powerful tools that find you matched candidates with instant match over 80% of employers get quality candidates whose resume on indeed matches their job description the moment they sponsor a job according to us Indie data so join more than three million businesses worldwide that use indeed to hire great Talent fast you can start hiring right now now with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post at [Music] indeed.com lockon offer good for a limited time again claim your $75 credit now at indie.com lockon again that’s indeed.com lockon terms and conditions apply you need to hire you need indeed all right Emma and I are talking about Colton Mr Potato Head sisss and the career that he has had I’m loving it like who would want to even be called big sexy when you can have Mr Potato right right for real for real yeah yeah we’re gonna make Michael McCarron jealous so jealous yes so Colton sistens again career year in so many stats this is somebody too that I think we have to give credit to when it comes to off ice because when you think about leadership with this Nashville Predators team when Barry trotz was talking about this reset he would mention players like Roman Yosi and Philip forsburg and then brought in Ryan O’Reilly and Gustaf Nyquist but I don’t think you can underestimate the importance in the locker room and when it comes to setting culture of somebody like Colton cens remember this is a homegrown guy y’all like he’s been ours since the get-go the Predators drafted him in the second round I think it was uh 2012 so like several years ago but this is a homegrown guy who gets it and I feel like this has been a year where Colton sistens has shown his value off the ice as well as on the ice yeah it’s something that I had seen you know previously with being traveling with the team and just being around them all the time is that they would have regularly you know maybe kind of um impromptu like leadership meetings and and not necessarily about serious things but like we’d be on the plan coming back from a game and it would be like okay we need to do a quick leadership meeting to decide if we’re going to like move back the practice time tomorrow or something like that and it’s like and it would obviously it would be your captain your alternate captains Colton sizin was always in those meetings even when he wasn’t wearing an a like he was always part of that leadership group like even if he wasn’t formally part of it um he also he is the team’s representative on the um for the The Players Association so he is you know he’s very involved and very plugged in that way too and he’s definitely like you don’t he’s maybe not the first name that comes to mind when you think of like leaders on the team like you said but because he’s not a loud guy again secret agent secret agent Mr Potato Head under the radar Potato Head yeah M um so yeah he like he’s just not the the most like the loudest guy in the room but he is I think there’s a lot to be said for like quiet leadership and I think that he brings that and I think that you know he leads in other ways too I mean I remember earlier I mean when Cody glass started playing his best hockey of the Season he was on the wing with Colton sizin as his Center and I talked to Andrew brunette about that and was kind of expecting like a pretty generic answer like Yeah Colton’s been in the league a long time you know figured par him with someone who has less experience whatever but he went into great detail about like yeah Colton has taken him he’s like a big brother to him like he protects him in situations he stands up for him he creates plays for him like he he is the safety net he brunette called him like Colton scissons is your safety net especially for a guy like Cody glass that’s just invaluable yes yeah and when we look ahead to next season I feel like Colton sistens is one of those players that again under the radar is going to be huge for the Predators taking their next step I love uh what you’re talking about when it comes to Cody glass because when I think of what do you need from Colton sistens I think Cody glass’s season next year is is going to be extremely important and you know we’ll get into lots more detail when we do his um season superlative when it comes to Cody glass but you look at Colton ciens and you think okay Colton cens is going to help crack open what is there with Cody glass when Cody glass is healthy and when he is playing with confidence and you can do that better you can play with more confidence on a line with Colton sissons or if you are looking at hey who are these young guys in Milwaukee that may get a shot in Nashville Colton sissons is a guy that you could put with you know a young guy if yo Parson and gets a chance if Phil thomasino has earned enough um from Andrew brunette like that’s where Colton cis’s value is it’s it’s not just what does he do it is what does he get out of the people who are with him and that is invaluable especially where the team is at right now as a franchise like this is huge so for me I really am interested to see how does Andrew brunette use what he has in Colon sistens not just to get the most out of colon sistance because you’re going to get what you get from him he’s he’s reliable but what are you gonna get from other players yeah through him and I that’s such a like it’s an underrated maybe undervalued skill because it’s not really quantifiable but I mean when I think of guys who like to me the consumate example of a player who makes the guys around him better I think of Sydney Crosby and now I am not saying that Colton sizin is Sydney Crosby but uh in because he’s not the same type of player he’s not a goal scorer that’s okay uh but in that one regard I think that he they can be talked about in the same breath as far as how they bring the most out of the guys that they play with and the guys who play with them get better because of it and I think that that is such a valuable such a valuable um asset that Colton sizin brings to this team yeah I would agree with you this is a guy going forward again and it’s so under the radar nationally this is not a name in the National media that you ever hear but I think Nashville Predators fans and you like I said he’s been with the team for forever but you go back to like that Stanley Cup run with Colton assistence this is a guy who’s just steps up who knows what it takes and who can get the best out of other people and like you said not quantifiable but really invaluable when it comes to putting this team together and you know the steps the team is going to need to make to get to where you know Barry Tri and Andrew brunette wants them to go yeah I agree with you too he is one of my favorite ones to talk to like you said um like quiet but tons of great Insight from Colton assistens when you get a chance to talk to him about what’s going on with the team or you know what needs to change and all that he he is on my short list of players that I I really like to get information from and perspective from he’s really terrific yeah very insightful and has a really healthy perspective on a lot things and he always he’ll always give you good answers yep coming up we are going to talk about Mark Janowski didn’t play nearly as many games as Colton ciss did but how valuable was he to the Nashville Predators especially in a little bit of a mushy middle all right I’m a mark Janowski didn’t play 81 games this season like col assistance did he did play 32 games seven goals eight assists he had of course 15 points if you do the math which we’re mathing it’s after the holiday weekend we’re back to mathing um had one short-handed goal uh plus 11 in plus minus which I know people have big feelings it’s not big feelings Friday but people have big feelings about plus minus but you know plus 11 very good two-way player he came up for two games in December from Milwaukee but then joined the team fulltime uh God bless two games before the 18 game point streak bless his heart like hey here’s a game and then now hey why don’t you play Dallas and lose 9 to2 that’ll feel so great welcome Mark Janowski yep yeah so we’re glad to have you here Welcome to Hell what can you do and I feel like the statistics maybe don’t show what Janowski did this is again not a player that you’re going to hear people talking about um but during that 18-game win streak Mark Janowski four goals 11 points and 18 games so this is somebody who came up from Milwaukee and really contributed to this Predators team yeah absolutely I think again he’s a guy like sens that you know he’s not going to score a lot of goals for you and so you’re probably not going to hear his name that much but he’s also not going to make a ton of mistakes like what you get is what you get from him I mean he’s been in this league for since uh I think he made his debut in 2016 but then like really full-time in the league in 2017 um he’s a journeyman he’s played with Calgary he’s played with Pittsburgh he’s played with Buffalo and now has landed with Nashville and sometimes you kind of like those guys especially as a as a callup player like he was this season because you need and last season too because sometimes if you’re in a situation where you need to call up another forward and it’s like okay we don’t really want to throw our Prospect in to this situation right like what you just said the 9 to2 loss to Dallas like that could ruin a a prospect I mean like mentally that could just be so hard for them that’s when you need a guy like Jen Kowski that you can call on as your next man up to be like I got this I’ve been through this like we can we can handle this we can weather the storm and we can move forward and so I think that he just brings a lot of valuable experience yeah one of the things that I think people wonder about looking forward with markk Janowski is you know what what is he going to be on the roster next season and it’s so interesting to me because like you talked about this is somebody who’s been around the NHL this isn’t somebody whose career has been entirely AHL and he’s just now kind of getting his feet wet you know at 29 years old he has seen a lot around the league and he feels like one of those players where he’s just a little bit too good to be an AHL player you know you look at you know you go back to his Milwaukee Admiral stats I was looking at this um the other day and it just knocks my socks off so he finished the season with like uh in Milwaukee I think he played 40 games in Milwaukee but he was third in points fourth in goals on the Milwaukee Admirals team with guys who are playing you know 60 some games that’s how good he was you know with Milwaukee he had 47 points in 40 games in Milwaukee I also don’t know that Mark Janowski ceiling is super high you know what I’m saying yeah like you know what you’re gonna get he’s he’s a perfect middle six guy like you know what you’re going to get from him um he’s and you know although to that end my superlative because we skipped over this part we did sorry yes um my superlative would be that he was the biggest um postseason surprise and now caveat I’m not referring to the predators in the playoffs I’m referring to after the Predators were out of the playoffs uh but the Milwaukee Admirals were still in the cder cut playoffs Mark Janowski went back to Milwaukee and he was like the surprise uh he read the lineup card in the locker room the greatest wasn’t it amazing okay but the biggest surprise to me I have spent a lot of time around that man I have never heard him speak at that volume ever like I never again with the whole like oh you know what going to get from him like he’s really steady I’m like that is the most emotion and the most volume I have ever seen from it I loved it don’t get me wrong I was just like wait like that’s him that’s jenko like really and yeah I I mean it was great but it it was great because you see like why he was so valuable in Milwaukee as a leader there maybe like an informal leader and and probably the same in the Predators locker room too is that he has so much experience he’s been around for so long um I also just think I I I thought about this I didn’t know how to turn this into a superlative so I just didn’t but like it’s gonna come out sounding wrong but like look we’ve already done Mr Potato Head so everything is on the table you know what yeah I don’t think this is quite as bad as that but we’ll see um we’re like good his face doesn’t match his body and what I mean is that I think look come on this journey with I’m coming with you I’m I’m here for it he has like one of the I think like the biggest baby face for for how large of a human he is I mean he’s 64 22 pounds like he’s a big dude and if you look at him from the neck down you’re like oh that’s a really scary dude and then you look at his face and his smile just lights up a room and it’s like you just want to give him a hug it’s like he does not look scary in the face um but like he’ll be out there begging people around and I maybe I should stop talking no no I love it I love it least like scary in the face yeah Mr Potato Head and not scary in the face I love it but you are right he does have a baby face I promise I do like write words for a living I just I don’t think that my brain is functioning right now I think you are nailing it girlfriend nailing it thank you so much um yes but he does have a baby F somehow and this is something that’s hard to accomplish even with a beard he has a baby face like I don’t know how to describe it but he does I was just gonna say that because when he gets the facial hair going it it does nothing cuz some guys it’s like anything some guys it’s like once they shave then it’s like oh now you have a baby face but with him it’s somehow he always does and he just always like his he has the biggest smile and just yeah I don’t know I he is yeah yeah he’s he’s precious he’s not mean in the face he’s not mean in the face and and that is something to hang on to if you are Mark Janowski you are not mean in the face friend yeah the other thing that I love and this goes along a little bit with the baby face there’s a segue here Emma okay is that Andrew brunette referred to him as a security blanket yeah during this season he talked about Jan Kowski as a security blanket it for Luke Evangelista and Tommy Novak two players that he spent a lot of time with on the ice because again you’ve got you know this guy who has seen a lot he has played all over the league he’s 29 years old um and cool as a cucumber Mark Janowski on the ice he also is very good he’s a great defensive player so he kind of is the guy that covers a multitude of sins for people who may be on the ice with him as well I think you saw um at the beginning of that line coming together of Novak and Janowski and Evangelista Janowski did a lot of going and getting the puck for the guys now I feel like Evangelista eventually was like oh I want to get on on that game that seems fun and pick that up but Janowski was really kind of the guy that that would kick some things off well and that’s what you need because this was evangelista’s first playoffs in the NHL and it’s like all right it’s going to take him a minute to to get in on that and he is that he’s absolutely security blanket he’s the security blanket Colton siss is the safety net they’re all secure and safe and potato heads and faces that are not mean not mean in the face not mean in the face so when you look ahead at this roster Emma do you see Mark Janowski starting the season in Nashville in October I right now MH yes I do um I don’t know that I see him as a regular starter to be honest with you um I think a lot is going to depend on who if anyone out of Milwaukee makes the roster and who they get in trades or free agency yes um I think that could go a long way in determin like there are some guys where I’m like like Colton sizin yes no matter who they get he’s in Jen Kowski I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be I’m just saying that he he is that great security blanket to have for your younger guys and he is the like I said probably probably not the position he wants to be in but he is the perfect next man up like he’s he’s the perfect guy like someone goes down or someone needs a rest or you know you’re in a pinch he is the perfect guy you can call up you know he’s not going to get rattled he’s not going to get in his head about it he’s just going to go and play his game so like he’s the perfect next man up whether that’s Off the Bench or out of Milwaukee um you know I think they he brings a lot of good I think that it like I said it’ll just depend on if they can maybe get some more scoring threats in free agency or trades then that might supplant him on the roster at least to start but like I said perfect big perfect next guy up yes if Mark Janowski is the your go-to guy that is not too shabby for the Nashville Predators next season for sure yeah of course Nashville is going to need more from their middle six next season on tomorrow’s show we’re going to talk about two other players who could potentially be poised for breakout Seasons we’re going to award season superlatives to Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista and talk about their seasons on tomorrow’s show before we wrap things up here though Emma will you let everybody know where they can find you and find your work yes you can find me on Twitter and Instagram same handle both places Emma lingan and you can find my work at the hockey news and you can find me on social media at an Kore Mama on Ice you can find my work at Penalty Box radio as well that is going to do it for today’s episode of the lock on Predators podcast thank you for making us your first listen of the day we will be back tomorrow with an all new episode we’ll see you then [Music]
The Nashville Predators had several players with career seasons in 2023-2024, and one of those players setting personal bests was Colton Sissons. On today’s Locked On Predators we take a closer look at the under the radar success Sissons had this season and discuss the important role this 30-year-old will have in a “youth movement” reset. We compare Sissons to one of his bigger name teammates and talk about the role he had to step into this season. We also discuss Mark Jankowski’s 32 games in Nashville. We share what Andrew Brunette called Jankowski this season as a Predator and debate what his role might be going forward.
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