Breaking down latest Tom Wilson injury news
It’s way too early to even know what the Washington Capitals lineup will look like next season but we do know this, they’ll begin next season without Tom Wilson. Wilson was injured on May 3rd in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers.
According to the Caps, Wilson underwent a successful surgical procedure on his left knee to reconstruct his torn ACL. Based on the nature of this procedure, Wilson is expected to miss six to eight months. That means Wilson could return as early as around Thanksgiving and as late as late January.
Wilson played in less than 100 seconds of game action in that infamous Game 1. While he scored a power play goal to get things going for the Caps, he would shortly exit the game. He never returned to the series even though he did get solo work on the ice before practices and morning skates. The injury came when Wilson slammed into the corner boards when he attempted to hit Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.
Wilson described the play on the team’s breakdown day:
"“I tried to avoid the hit a little bit. I was going in pretty fast and I tried to avoid it a little bit and then I put myself and probably jeopardized myself a little bit and probably hyperextended my leg in the boards. I kind of pivoted around a little bit to get on my left leg, but I don’t know exactly what happened. I tried it out and it was no good. The rehab had started and we did everything we could, but just didn’t get there.”"
Must Read. Washington Capitals: 3 trade proposals for John Carlson. light
This puts the Caps in an interesting position this offseason. They’re already trying to get younger but now they have to fill the void of top line right winger as Wilson could miss up to half the season.