Why Nashville Predators center Colton Sissons couldn't care less about being appreciated

A aww-shucks smile crept across Colton Sissons' cheeks before finally reaching his mouth.

From there, the words reacting to the word began to spill from the Predators' forward.

Sissons was asked whether he might be viewed as "underappreciated" by those outside the walls of Bridgestone Arena, a word used in a tweet by this reporter to describe Sissons last week.

"I don't do anything other guys don't or are unwilling to, necessarily," he began. "I think I just do it consistently. I do some things quite well and that's why I've been a staple here for quite a while."

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The words that followed pretty much define the reason teammates love him and opponents hate to play against him. Sissons is gritty. He's tough. He's a penalty killer. He's a traffic cop. He wins big faceoffs in the defensive zone. He does all the little things that perhaps don't gain the attention like some of the bigger names who put up bigger numbers.

"I don't care much about the love in the media or on the NHL Network or any of that," he continued. "I feel appreciated here by my teammates and my coaches. That's all that matters to me."

Sissons is in his eighth season NHL season, all spent with the Predators, who picked him in the second round of the 2012 NHL Draft. Since then he's been a study in steady, occasionally showing off in the biggest moments. 

Like when his hat trick helped put away the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs in 2017, the same year the franchise reached its only Stanley Cup Final. Sissons had six goals that postseason.

These days he's still busy playing heavy minutes for the Predators' toughest line, along with rookie Tanner Jeannot and Yakov Trenin. The "Herd" line is perhaps coach John Hynes' most trusted. He often puts them on the ice against the league's top players.

The three had played more than 400 minutes this season, allowing just 11 goals while scoring 16.

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"The only reason you feel like he's underappreciated is because everyone wants to look at numbers in this game," forward Matt Duchene said. "We know what he does. He's the anchor of that line and he's up the middle playing center, which is a very difficult position.

"He doesn't get rewarded on the stat sheet as much as he probably deserves to. That doesn't change the way we feel about him. He's a guy we couldn't do this thing without, for sure."

Sissons has six goals and 16 assists-- two assists shy of tying his career high and 10 goals short of doing the same.

The numbers, though, aren't necessarily what Hynes is looking for when it comes to Sissons. His reliability, capability and sustainability all have been calculated in Hynes' head.

And the heads of others.

"He's a heart and soul player who is versatile and can fill many important roles on our team, including the penalty kill and power play," Predators general manager David Poile said after signing Sissons to a seven-year, $20 million deal in July 2019.

Hynes has come to the conclusion same conclusion. Sissons, 28, has become part of the team's leadership group since Hynes took over in January 2020. He's close to averaging a career high in time on ice.

He's one of Hynes' most trusted players.

"He never cheats you on effort or intensity, night in and night out," Hynes said. "The other part that's really important is he's a smart player. He plays a hard game but he also has that layer of smart ... that makes him a hard player to play against."

He also still has his sense of humor.

"Thanks for the Twitter love," Sissons said with a smile as he walked out the door.

Reach Paul Skrbina at pskrbina@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @PaulSkrbina.