Veteran Colin Wilson has called it a career. The forward had an injury that kept him out of action for most of the year and the former Colorado Avalanche player has retired after 11 seasons. News of the announcement broke on Monday. He had a pair of hip surgeries in 2019 that kept him off the ice.
Following 11 seasons and 632 regular-season NHL games, Colin Wilson has today announced his retirement from the NHL.
Wilson, a third generation NHL player, was a reliable contributor to each team he played for: https://t.co/c8Kao39yHZ pic.twitter.com/kFNgx2vG1D
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) January 5, 2021
Colin Wilson Calls it a Career
It’s almost not worth breaking down Wilson’s most recent play. He skated in only nine games for Colorado in 2019-20. He did contribute four assists and eight hits but there isn’t much beyond that for the 31-year-old. The only other major stat to highlight was an outstanding 55 percent Corsi For and an 8.1 Corsi For Relative. He was off to one of the strongest starts of his career from a possession standpoint had a lower-body injury not occurred.
The 2018-19 campaign was reasonably productive, though, with 12 goals and 27 points in 65 games. His possession numbers were below 50 percent but his scoring rate remained constant; Wilson’s career points-per-game is 0.45. He scored at a rate of 0.42 points per contest last season. He is a consistent 25-30 point scorer who was also capable of 35 or more if everything comes together just right. His best season came in 2014-15 when he scored 20 goals and 42 points in 77 games. Wilson has scored double-digit goals six times in 11 NHL seasons.
What This Means for the Future
It looks like injuries finally caught up to Wilson. There were some very positive signs in his first nine games but there’s no way of knowing what he will produce in the coming season. He will likely start in the middle or bottom-six with some sheltering until the team knows his fitness level. He was a solid player in 2013-14 through 2016-17 with the Nashville Predators. That stretch saw Wilson score 49 goals and 134 points in 292 games.
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