The NHL Department of Player Safety dropped the hammer on Washington Capitals right winger Tom Wilson… again. This time Wilson was handed a seven game suspension for his hit on Brandon Carlo of the Boston Bruins in Friday’s 5-1 loss. It was a boarding play gone bad.
Under the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and based on his average annual salary, Wilson will forefit $311,781.61 with the money going to the Player’s Emergency Assistance Fund.
The DoPS posted a video of the hit and their explanation on the punishment:
“Wilson approaches from outside (Carlo’s) field of vision and delivers a high, hard hit that makes direct contact with Carlo’s head, driving him violently into the glass and causing an injury. This is boarding.”
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“On this play, the combination of Carlo’s battle with (Jakub) Vrana, his head being low as he looks for the puck and Wilson’s angle of approach, combined to leave Carlo in a position where he is defenseless.”
Then the video said some pretty harsh words about Wilson.
“This is a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who was in a defenseless position and doing so with significant force.”
This is the fifth suspension of Wilson’s career. He is eligible to return to the ice on March 20 vs. the New York Rangers but he does have the right to appeal to commissioner Gary Bettman. He can also appeal to a neutral arbitrator. That was what he did last time he was suspended and he was successfully able to reduce his previous suspension from 20 games to 14 games. Wilson served 16 games prior to that decision.
Wilson has 48 hours to make that appeal to the commissioner. Carlo was taken to the hospital on Friday night and was released Saturday morning, per the Bruins. The play happened with 1:30 left in the first period. Carlo was tracking the puck by looking down before Wilson came in hot.
https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1367999717825712130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1367999717825712130%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fsports%2F2021%2F03%2F06%2Ftom-wilson-brandon-carlo-hit%2F
Wilson laid a full body check on Carlo and if you look closely at the close up replay you can see his head smashing into the glass. Carlo grabbed his head and left with help from a trainer and team doctor. There was no penalty called on the play.
The Caps play the Flyers tonight in Philadelphia. They now have to adjust to life without Tom Wilson, a guy that we as fans are lucky to have on our team. Hopefully this helps Wilson change his game and make him more careful next time.