The Toronto Maple Leafs have opened free agency by coming to terms with Colton Sissons on a two-year, $4.25 million AAV contract.
The Leafs had a need for a right-shot, defensively capable player who could play center in their bottom six. We discussed similar options like Noel Acciari and Kevin Stenlund ahead of free agency.
Sissons essentially checks the same boxes. He’s a career 53.9 percent faceoff man, he can play both center and wing, and while he isn’t as physical as someone like Acciari, he does bring some speed.
In Vegas, Sissons spent most of his time on the fourth line and played the second-lowest average ice time of his career at 12:30 per game. Accordingly, he finished with just 11 points, tying the lowest points-per-game rate of his career from his first full NHL season (which also came with the lowest average ice time of his career). For reference, when he recorded his career-high 35-point season, he averaged a very notable 16:34 per night.
He shouldn’t play that much, and he won’t in Toronto. Instead, he’ll be used as the defensive checker he is, a role he performed relatively well in for Vegas. Sissons started just 35 percent of his faceoffs in the offensive zone, but over 66 games, he was on the ice for only 24 goals against compared to 16 goals for, while finishing ahead in scoring chances and just underwater in shot share. He generally did what you want a checking forward to do — push play up the ice reasonably well, excel in the faceoff circle, and avoid bleeding goals against.
Sissons also led all Vegas forwards in shorthanded ice time per game during the regular season for a penalty kill that finished seventh in the league last season.
In the playoffs, Sissons found another level. He recorded eight points in 22 games, nearly matching his regular-season production. His ice time increased to 13:49 per game, he won his five-on-five minutes 9-8, and he took even fewer offensive-zone faceoffs (28 percent). It should be noted that Vegas acquired Nic Dowd at the trade deadline, so Sissons spent plenty of time on the right wing afterward. Given that Dowd is one of the league’s best defensive centers, that’s hardly a knock on Sissons.
Vegas also moved Sissons around throughout the lineup, occasionally shifting him back to center even with Dowd on the roster. He became a true bottom-six Swiss Army knife for the Golden Knights. That included this unbelievable game-winning assist while playing center late in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final:
The signing and fit are both easy to understand. The Leafs had no right-shot centers, and before this signing, their only right-shot forward was William Nylander.
While it’s still early to project line combinations, it will be interesting to see if the Leafs give Jacob Quillan a legitimate opportunity to make the team. He and Sissons could complement each other well as centers and wingers, platooning based on matchups and faceoff locations. Both have good speed and can move the puck well enough to create some offense while grinding in the offensive zone. A bigger, defensively reliable left winger like Steven Lorentz or even Dakota Joshua could round out the line. Hypothetically, that makes a lot of sense. The Leafs could bring along a young player, insulate him with dependable veterans, and maintain flexibility with handedness and positioning.
In terms of filling out the fourth line, this is a useful signing that adds defensive value and should strengthen the penalty kill. Sissons is clearly a legitimately solid bottom-six forward with versatility, but it’s hard to understand how he earned this much money, even if it’s only for two years. By comparison, Noel Acciari signed for two years at $2.8M AAV, and he had 25 points last year, more than double Sissons’ total of 11. If that means the Leafs view him as 3C, that would be problematic; they should be aiming higher for that spot in the lineup and use Sissons as a solid backup.
Sissons is a player for what he is, but it’s also a lot of money for what he is, even with a rising cap environment.
