MARCH 16, 2010 -- When Dustin Brown scored in the third period Sunday to give his LA Kings a 2-1 lead over Nashville, it looked dismal for the Predators, but only for 39 seconds. 

That’s how long as it took for rookie Colin Wilson to answer back. 

Nashville drafted Wilson seventh overall out of the US under-18 Development Program in 2008.  He went on to play two years for Boston University where he won the NCAA Championship last year and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker award, given to college hockey’s best player, and now he is beginning to break out as a full time NHLer. 

“He’s one of the building blocks of our franchise, there’s no question,” said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz of the 20-year-old from Greenwich, Connecticut.

“Colin is a really big body. He’s just a really strong player, sort of like Dustin Brown,” Trotz added.  “He’s got a lot of weight to him [and] he’s got a lot of poise.  He’s got good instincts, doesn’t mind going into the hard areas and making things happen.”

The key to Wilson’s game at this point in his career is development according to Terry Crisp, the Predators’ color commentator for radio and television.

“When he came to training camp he came from college, where he was a star,” said Crisp. “He was one of the better players, [and one of the] bigger players and I think he got a bit of an awakening when he came to training camp.”

Wilson played ten games in his first stint with the big club only tallying two goals and two assists.  Since being called up from Milwaukee of the American League on February 9 he has racked up five goals and three assists for eight points in a mere 12 games, giving the defensively minded Nashville team a big boost of offense heading down the stretch run toward the playoffs.

“He struggled early,” Trotz said, “he went down to Milwaukee, I really think he got his game together and [we] put him on a wing and he’s been really good.”

It certainly does not hurt that when he was moved to the wing he was placed on the Predators’ first line alongside team captain Jason Arnott and second leading goal scorer Martin Erat. 

“Colin Wilson knows two things,” Crisp said.  “If he gets open Erat’s going to find him the puck, and if he and Captain Arnott work the corners and get the puck to Erat they’re going to get points.”

Not only has Wilson been lighting things up offensively, his new line mates, Arnott and Erat, have registered eight and nine points respectively since his return to the lineup.

Arnott extolled Wilson’s virtues after the game, noting his great hands and skills around the net, and that while Wilson, like everyone, does make mistakes it falls upon he and Erat, as veterans to keep him confident.

“I guess we throw that word, confidence, around so loosely,” Crisp said, “but it plays such a big part and that’s right now what Colin Wilson has: confidence.”

Wilson and Hornqvist (who leads the team in goals with 26) have added some much-needed offense to the Nashville lineup this year.  The Predators have historically been a team that spends well below the salary cap and has lost offensive players like Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg as a result. 

Still, the Preds are consistently in the playoff hunt year in and year out due in large part to the stability and coaching style of Trotz as well as GM David Poile’s ability to find internal solutions to salary cap issues.

“Draft well,” said star defenseman Shea Webber, “the organization's done a great job on that in the past few years and that's obviously showing with these young guys.”

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