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With the season over, it's time to take a look back and examine each player's individual performance. We'll briefly break it down, and then offer a letter grade for the year. It's report cards, Nashville Predators-style, from Blum to Wilson. Next up: Colin Wilson.
Today's report comes from Ryan Porth of RLD Hockey, a site which covers all things NHL which Ryan orchestrates from here in Nashville. He's a regular presence at Predators practices and games, and also this year added a podcast to his repertoire, RLD Hockey Talk, which features a wide variety of guests from around the league. Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter at @RLDHockey, and follow on to read about Willie...
The Skinny: Colin Wilson, the eighth overall pick in 2008, arrived in Music City early on in the 2009/10 season. While battling a groin injury, he tallied just 2 points in 10 games and was shelved on IR. But when he returned in February, he proved to be a valuable player in the Preds lineup with 13 points in 25 games to finish the year. The center-turned-winger, who is physically built like a linebacker, didn't have the best playoff debut. However, Predsfans saw enough from Wilson to feel this season was going to be the time he burst onto the scene.
The Performance: Unfortunately, he never put it all together this year. Playing in all 82 games, the Boston University product racked up 16 goals and 34 points. Wilson started in the top six, but was eventually demoted to the fourth line because of his work on the defensive end - his production suffered when guys like Matthew Lombardi and Cal O'Reilly went down to injury - and entered the always-feared Barry Trotz ‘doghouse.' Wilson was only in the lineup for three playoff games (all vs. Vancouver), and that was because of injuries to forwards that had surpassed him on the depth chart.
Like in his rookie year, Wilson put his potential and talent on display at times - but those moments were few and far between. There were those bursts into the offensive zone and great individual efforts that whet the appetite of everyone in attendance; other times you had to check the lineup sheet just to make sure he wasn't scratched. Those inconsistencies not only were from week-to-week and game-to-game, but also from period-to-period and shift-to-shift.
The Grade: Considering that Wilson played in his first full NHL season, I'll give him a C.Though ‘Willy' had an inconsistent campaign (25 points in 50 games prior to All-Star break; 9 points in 32 games after) and often leaves Preds fans looking for more from him, he is just 21 years old. He still has a high ceiling with his offensive talent and hockey IQ. With that being said, Wilson will be under more pressure next year to take that next step that fans were hoping for here in 2010/11.