Tom Wilson 2014-2015 Season Review: A Step In Right Direction
Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals had a successful season. Here at Stars and Sticks, we’ll analyze each of the Capitals and their season. Last time, we looked at the head coach Barry Trotz, who had a very successful first year with the Capitals. Today, we take a look at the second half of team’s comedic duo, Tom Wilson.
Tom Wilson’s Spider Diagram
CREDIT: @IneffectiveMath
CREDIT: @IneffectiveMath
Looking at his spider diagram, maybe the comedic duo of Michael Latta and Tom Wilson ought to be broken up (at least on the ice)? His numbers with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom were very encouraging as far as possession, but that possession did not reflect in goals scored. Wilson was way too much of a passenger on that line and didn’t make things happen. He was just kind of there. If I’m Barry Trotz, I’d send Wilson home with a ton of game tape of Mike Knuble and have him study it because that’s who he needs to emulate on that first forward line. Even though Knuble was a passenger, he was a darn fine one who wound up making Ovechkin and Backstrom better. I’d love for Wilson to be like that.
Tom Wilson 2014-2015 Season Review
THE GOOD: Honestly, this season was about as good as I could have reasonably expected for Tom Wilson.
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Obviously, he still has a ton of growing left to do, but this season was definitely a step in the right direction. He increased his point total from 10 points in 2013-2014 to 17 points in 2014-2015 and he did it in 15 less games (though he did have 82.3 more minutes of playing time this season). He increased his individual shot attempts at even strength from 95 to 145. He increased his CorsiFor per 60 minutes at even strength from 43.2 to 56.4 and decreased his CorsiAgainst per 60 minutes at even strength from 52.8 to 50.8. He increased his individual scoring chances at even strength from 57 to 74. Tom Wilson also finally started hanging out around the crease, as he saw his individual high danger scoring chances increase from 26 to 42. This year was a definite step forward for Tom Wilson. He didn’t belong in the NHL in 2013-2014. He belonged in the NHL in 2014-2015 and he proved that.
One simply doesn’t go from playing eight minutes per game at even strength one season to playing on the first line the next. Tom Wilson apparently did not get that memo because that’s what he did. His two most common line mates this year (other than Holtby and himself) were none other than Backstrom and Ovechkin. Tom Wilson had a 54.0% CF% at even strength with Backstrom and a 53.7% CF% at even strength with Ovechkin. He made that line better as far as possession.
The area where Tom Wilson made his biggest impact was hits. He finished with the fourth lowest time on ice at even strength among Caps forwards, but his 205 hits at even strength were the second most among Capitals forwards. Another area where Tom Wilson made a surprising impact: drawing penalties. He drew the second most penalties among Caps forwards (20) at even strength.
THE BAD: Tom Wilson certainly made strides, but he still has to work on several things. The biggest red flag I see in Wilson’s game is penalty minutes. It’s one thing to draw penalties and get the Caps four on four game going because their four on four game is quite impressive. I don’t have an issue with him doing that, especially when he gets good guys sent off with him. However, his penalty minutes increased from 151 to 172. He was fined for embellishment, but I really don’t understand why he got fined for it because he clearly didn’t embellish anything.
Tom Wilson’s shooting percentage was still really low. I expected that to change this season, and it hasn’t. This goes back to Tom Wilson needing to hang out around the crease more so that his best assets (his size and power) are best utilized. He also disappeared in the playoffs (minus a few hits) and became the primary target of a scorching hot take by Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Wilson is way too talented to have that be the reason why he’s getting attention.
FUTURE OUTLOOK: This season was definitely a step in the right direction for Tom Wilson, but Tom Wilson must continue to improve. For better or for worse, he is being viewed as a villain by pretty much everybody who isn’t a Caps fan. He can do two things about that. He can either change that (he could cure cancer and that still wouldn’t happen) or he can outright embrace it and be a better villain a la Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand (heck yes).
Tom Wilson has so much potential. I really hope he unlocks it because he has the potential to be something really special: a productive agitator who everyone hates. With a full off-season ahead of him, I’m expecting big things out of Tom Wilson in 2014-2015. I saw a lot more of the Tom Wilson that I loved back in 2012-2013 this season than I did last season and that’s a really good thing.