Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Ross Colton

Ross Colton

#79 · Centre · Nashville Predators

Born Sep 11, 1996 in Robbinsville, New Jersey, USA (age 30) · 6'0", 194 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 118th overall in 2016 by TBL (round 4)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2020-21

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Adam Klapka CGY · 1 P in 4 GP Alexander Wennberg SJS · 1 P in 4 GP Anthony Cirelli TBL · 1 P in 4 GP Anthony Duclair NYI · 1 P in 4 GP Anton Lundell FLA · 1 P in 4 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0102030402020-21: 12 points1220-212021-22: 39 points3921-222022-23: 32 points3222-232023-24: 40 points4023-242024-25: 29 points2924-252025-26: 24 points2425-262026-27: 1 points126-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2020-21 TBL 30 9 3 12 3 16 46 36 0.40 $700K
2021-22 TBL 79 22 17 39 4 24 159 153 0.49 $1.125M
2022-23 TBL 81 16 16 32 -8 50 153 188 0.40 $1.125M
2023-24 COL 80 17 23 40 -8 61 146 141 0.50 $4M
2024-25 COL 61 16 13 29 -1 18 125 145 0.48 $4M
2025-26 COL 73 9 15 24 9 13 153 159 0.33 $4M
2026-27 NSH 4 0 1 1 -1 4 5 13 0.25 $4M
7 seasons Career 408 89 88 177 -2 186 787 835 0.43

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2020-21 TBL 23 4 2 6 4 12 32 46 0.26
2021-22 TBL 23 5 4 9 -2 13 39 63 0.39
2022-23 TBL 6 1 3 4 0 4 8 19 0.67
2023-24 COL 11 1 3 4 2 2 14 43 0.36
2024-25 COL 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0.00
2025-26 COL 11 2 3 5 -2 16 20 38 0.45
6 seasons Playoffs 75 13 15 28 2 47 114 212 0.37

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 0 1 1 -1 4 5 13 0.25 0.0 13:10

Contract

$4MCap hitends in 2027, then UFA
$4MCap dollars per point1 points in 4 games
$889KCap dollars per goal above replacement4.5 goals above replacement, projected
$5.1MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$1.1MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 648 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Colorado Avalanche on Jul 17, 2023, as a new contract: 4 years and $16M, beginning in 2023-24. It runs through 2026-27, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2023-24 $4M $4.1M $0 $4.1M
2024-25 $4M $3.5M $500K $4M NTC
2025-26 $4M $4M $0 $4M M-NTC
2026-27 $4M $3.9M $0 $3.9M M-NTC

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 17, 2023 Colorado Avalanche New contract 2023-24 to 2026-27 4 $16M $4M
Aug 9, 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning New contract 2021-22 to 2022-23 2 $2.25M $1.125M
Oct 10, 2020 Tampa Bay Lightning New contract 2020-21 to 2020-21 1 $700K $700K
Jun 26, 2018 Tampa Bay Lightning Entry-level 2018-19 to 2019-20 2 $1.85M $768K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 4 games (-0.5 goals above replacement), plus the 69 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+4.5Goals above replacement219th of 648 skaters, 157th of 423 forwards
+0.8Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+1.8Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 423 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+0.9 59th percentileEven-strength defence+1.2 74th percentilePower play-0.7 10th percentilePenalty kill+0.0 55th percentilePenalties+0.3 51st percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

02468102020-212021-222022-232023-242024-252025-262026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

38.6Corsi for %39 attempts for, 62 against
-3.3CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
33.2Expected goals for %1.2 expected for, 2.4 against
-8.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
41.0Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
33.3Goals for %1 for, 2 against
97.2PDO5.6% shooting + 91.7% saves
12Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Jonathan Marchessault · Ross Colton · Mavrik Bourque322:0236.234.50-0
Ross Colton · Jack Drury · Adam Edstrom312:1340.038.20-0
Ross Colton · Jack Drury · Reid Schaefer12:5320.026.80-0
Ross Colton · Nils Hoglander · Matthew Wood21:550.00.00-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.3Expected goalsfrom 9 unblocked attempts
-0.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.35 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 3.5% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -0.3 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.3Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 8, 2026 @ MTL W 5-2 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 12:15
Oct 6, 2026 @ TOR L 4-5 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 2 2 2 12:52
Oct 3, 2026 vs DAL W 2-1 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 15:19
Oct 1, 2026 vs MIN L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 12:15