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Washington Capitals: Tom Wilson is Scoring and Staying Out of Trouble

By Michael Marzzacco

WASHINGTON, DC - April 15: Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) is hit from behind by Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri (43) in the second period on April 15, 2017, at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. in Round 1 of the NHL Playoffs. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - April 15: Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) is hit from behind by Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri (43) in the second period on April 15, 2017, at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. in Round 1 of the NHL Playoffs. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Tom Wilson began the season with a 20-game suspension. Since that difficult lesson, he hasn’t been punished since and has helped the Washington Capitals with his offensive upside.

Washington Capitals right winger Tom Wilson is beloved among Caps fans but hated around the league. Wilson has been known for controversial hits and multiple suspensions since. Last season he missed the first four games of the season for a hit in the final game of the preseason. Most notably were his next two suspensions since that incident.

In Game 3 of the Capitals’ second round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was this hit on Zach Aston-Reese that suspended Wilson for three games. It was adversity the team didn’t want thrown at them but they still went on to defeat their rivals in six games.

Fast forward to the preseason after all the Stanley Cup hoopla and Wilson lays out another controversial hit. Ironically, this hit too came in the final preseason game against the exact same opponent the Capitals faced a year ago: the St. Louis Blues. This time it was a hit on Oskar Sundqvist and the punishment was worse since Wilson was a repeat offender. The NHL Department of Player Safety suspended Wilson for 20 games to begin the season.

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After Wilson appealed the suspension, league commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the suspension. However, Wilson got his suspension reduced to 14 games a few weeks later thanks to a neutral arbitrator. He would be inserted into the lineup that night on Nov. 13 in Minnesota and he showed zero signs of rust. Wilson not only scored in his first game back but also got penalized for goaltender interference… on the same play! Who else but Tom Wilson?

Wilson tore it up in his first 10 games back with the Capitals with 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists), recording at least one point in each of those games. During that stretch, Wilson almost got in trouble again on Nov. 30 when he got ejected from the Capitals game against the Devils for a hit on Brett Seney. Despite the ejection, Wilson did not receive any further punishment and Capitals fans everywhere exhaled.

Although Wilson has missed a good chunk of games at the start of the season, his offensive prowess has shined the brightest. Wilson already has career highs with 22 goals and 38 points in 57 games. That’s eight goals better than the previous season when Wilson played in the remaining Capitals 78 regular season games after the four-game suspension. Part of his offensive production has been spending time on the top line next to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin. Those two can score goals and create plays with ease and being linemates with them naturally makes you an even better player.

Not only is Wilson scoring more but he’s also hitting his opponents less. He obviously had to make an adjustment to his game to avoid more suspensions and so far this season, Wilson has a career-low 177 hits.  His lack of hits and increase in offense has not only been noticed in D.C. but even the NHL Department of Player Safety as well.

“I think Tom has figured out how to play the game and stay off our radar. I hope it stays that way. It’s been evident in the way he’s played this season. We’ve seen clips of him delivering good clean hits and laying off hits that might have gotten him in trouble before,” said George Parros, the head of the NHLDoPS, in an interview with Greg Wyshynski on ESPN.com.

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The Capitals have adversity in itself with an injury to Michal Kempny that will have their defenseman out for an extended period of time. The last thing this team wants is to lose Wilson due to another dirty hit. Like Parros, Capitals fans hope Wilson’s change to his game “stays that way” and carries over into the playoffs in their quest to defend their Stanley Cup.

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