Capitals: Tom Wilson Proving He’s Worth His Big Contract

Washington Capitals right winger Tom Wilson has lived up to his contract.

When Tom Wilson signed his six-year, $31.02 million contract in the summer of 2018 I will tell you my immediate reaction. “Ouch!” That was it….That was the reaction I had. I’m pretty sure you can find that one Twitter somewhere.

This is the world of instant reaction. You have a thought, you post it on social media because your thought it just so important and everybody needs to see it. You can also say that you were the first person or one of the first people to post something if you were right about a certain topic. You rarely hear about someone coming out when they were wrong. Funny how that happens.

Here I am however. I’m going to sit here for a minute or two and tell you how wrong I was. Tom Wilson has since proven that his contract is what he deserves.

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I will say this though. When Wilson signed this contract he was coming off a career year of 14 goals and 35 points. He was also a guy known for borderline hits and a suspension could be coming during any shift of any game. Does that sound like someone who deserves over $5.1 million a year?

Here we are about two years later and Wilson has taken a step up and justified his contract, at least in my eyes.

After getting suspended for twenty games to start the 2018-19 season, which was later reduced to 14, Wilson set career highs in both goals and points. He scored 22 goals and added 18 assists for a grand total of 40 points. He did this all in 63 games by the way, 15 fewer games than the previous season where he set his previous career highs.

This year it was looking even better. When the NHL season paused in early or mid March Wilson was bound to beat up his career bests. He currently sits at 21 goals scored, just one away from 22 and with every point he scored he was setting a new career high. Wilson has 44 points right now.

Wilson in my opinion is also having a down year. That is an awesome thing to say, I think. Wilson is setting career highs and he’s having a down year? How is that possible?

Wilson has been on the top line for the last two seasons. Last season when Wilson scored 21 goals 15 of them came at full and even strength. This season, having played five more games Wilson only has nine 5v5 goals. He has six less goals at full strength with five more goals played. That’s what I mean by Wilson is having a down year.

That also begs the question, how good can Wilson still get? He’s 26-years-old, he likely hasn’t quite peaked yet. Could we see a thirty goal year out of this bruising forward? Could we see a guy who opposing fans have called “a goon”, among other insulting names, score over thirty goals in a full NHL season?

If Wilson wasn’t having a “down” year in the goal scoring department he’d be close this year. If we gave him the same amount of 5v5 goals right now that he had all of last season he’d have 27 goals with 13 games to play.

And quite frankly this should be expected. Wilson is now playing with the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Having nine 5v5 goals through 68 games isn’t going to get it done. We know he can do better.

But how much better? That’s a question only time will answer. As long as he plays on the top line I think thirty goals at some point should be expected. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he will be, and I’m not calling him a perennial thirty goal scorer. A season or two of thirty plus goals, I think that is very doable for big number 43.

So much for my “Ouch!” a couple of years ago. Tom Wilson is a big, physical forward. That we all know. He can change games with his physical play. Now add his increased scoring and that contract is looking very well deserved.

He can score, he can hit, and with every passing month and season it’s looking like he’s more and more of a leader inside that Capitals locker room.

So to the Capitals management team, the coaching staff and of course Mr. Wilson himself, I apologize. You are worth every cent of that big contract you signed in 2018. And speaking for all Capitals fans, we can’t wait to see how much better you can still get.