Rexrode: Is this Predators swan song for Playoff Colin Wilson?

The ongoing joke in the Nashville Predators locker room about Colin Wilson helps explain why he might be dressing in a different one next season.

Nothing’s for certain, of course, and if Playoff Colin Wilson keeps earning that nickname over the course of a long postseason, GM David Poile may be compelled to protect him for the upcoming expansion draft. But right now the numbers suggest he won’t. And if Playoff Colin Wilson was Always Colin Wilson, Poile probably would.

So this could be it. Wilson could be a Vegas Golden Knight next season. For right now, the Predators and Wilson have each other. And right now is perhaps still early in this franchise’s greatest run, especially if the cracks keep coming when Wilson enters the locker room after games.

“Playoff Willy,” Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis said of the official in-house nickname for a guy who will play his second game of the playoffs in Friday’s Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals at St. Louis.

“I kind of get it from everybody,” said Wilson, whose playoff debut in Wednesday’s Game 1 against the Blues saw him score the first goal of the game. “I came into the dressing room (after Game 1) and couple of the guys were, ‘I’m not even going to say, not even going to say it.’”

But how can you not? Wilson now has 11 goals and 19 points in his past 21 playoff games, dating back to a first-round outburst against Chicago in 2015. That’s a goal every 1.9 games and a point every 1.1 games.

Wilson has 95 goals and 237 points in 502 career regular-season games – a goal every 5.3, a point every 2.1. But it was the 2015-16 season that created his reputation as a guy who is “Eh” from October to April and “Ohhh” from April on.

In 2014-15, Wilson had his best season, 20 goals and 42 points, then followed that up with five goals in six games against the Blackhawks. That earned him a four-year, $15.75 million deal. And he followed that up with a regular-season dud in 2015-16 – six goals, 24 points.

And then? Five goals, 13 points in 14 playoff games a year ago. Playoff Willy. Playoff Colin Wilson. An indictment of his consistency. A credit to his ability, and his penchant for producing when it matters most.

It is “better than just being called Invisible Wilson or something, all year around,” Wilson said.

“It’s not the worst,” he said. “But definitely I’d like to shed it a little bit.”

So why is it like this?

“I don’t know,” Wilson said. “Your focus is just a little bit smaller. You only have to worry about each game, you’re trying to win each game. So that seems to help, as opposed to an 82-game span. But it’s an exciting time of year. I don’t know if necessarily (Game 1) was the game I want to continue to play. I think I want to be better and improve on it.”

That would be timely for the Predators, now that rising forward Kevin Fiala is done with a broken femur suffered in Game 1. Nashville is getting Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok back soon, as well, perhaps for Game 2, but Wilson has the strength and speed to make a bigger difference.

Both of those things were on display in Game 1, his first postseason appearance after missing the Chicago sweep with a lower-body injury.

“He just rises to the occasion and seems to do whatever it takes,” Ellis said of Wilson in the playoffs. “And at this time of year it’s win at all costs, do whatever it takes to win. Willy’s another guy who elevates his game. It’s nothing that he does special, he just seems to get to those hard areas.”

In other words, he does some of the dirty work that isn’t as appealing in that 82-game marathon. Work that a guy like, say, Viktor Arvidsson does every night.

In Wilson’s defense, Peter Laviolette pointed out that he had a good regular season. He had 12 goals and 35 points, certainly an upgrade from last season. He was a factor.

“I don’t think he flipped a switch and he’s some incredible player now,” Laviolette said. “We appreciated the player he was in the regular season and thought that this is just a continuation of that.”

Meanwhile, Arvidsson became a star – and an untouchable member of the roster -- with 31 goals this season. Poile is almost certain to protect his top four defensemen, which means he can only protect four forwards, plus goaltender Pekka Rinne (and in case anyone still doesn’t know, backup goalie Juuse Saros is exempt from the expansion draft).

Three of those four forwards will be Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen. The fourth at this point is probably James Neal. Poile also can make a separate trade with the Golden Knights to keep them from picking a particular unprotected player, but Wilson figures to be a prominent option.

But hey, there’s plenty of time until that June 21 expansion draft. And Playoff Willy could fill much of it with his best moments yet for the team that drafted him No. 7 overall in 2008.

Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.