Tom Wilson Is Being Robbed Of A Terrific Season

Whenever you mention Tom Wilson in the hockey world you will probably get a couple of responses. If you are not talking to a Washington Capitals fan the response will all but surely be negative. Most fans across the NHL landscape think he is a dirty player who hits to hurt. If you talk to Capitals fans after you talk to a fan of another team you will likely only get a “rent free” response or a picture of Wilson holding the Stanley Cup.

It does not really matter what you think of Wilson. He is the kind of player where if he is on your team you will absolutely love the guy. If he plays against your team you fear him, and have a good chance of hating him whenever you are done playing him. It doesn’t really matter what year we are talking about, there are only a few of those players every generation.

Guys that also come to mind are guys like Brad Marchand and Corey Perry. Those are guys that when your team is playing them just the image of those guys can make your stomach boil. Everyone knows they are just one split second away from doing something “stupid”.

What also makes those players so valuable is they are actually terrific hockey players, or at least have been in the past when talking about Perry.

Marchand has scored thirty plus goals five times in his career and he could have done it more times if not for injury and seasons be cut short. He also has been over a point per game player six times in his career, including a one hundred point season in 2018-19.

Perry on the other hand while not in the prime of his career has had an awesome career. He has scored over four hundred career goals. One season he scored over forty goals, another season he hit fifty. He has also won a Hart trophy as league MVP, that coming after the 2010-11 season.

While Tom Wilson isn’t on those guys’ level he is still extremely talented. At 6 foot 4 inches and probably over 220lbs we have already discussed how Wilson can hurt when he hits. He is a very good skater for his size, can get some speed and, I can’t speak for you, but I don’t want someone of his size coming at me with speed and hitting me.

Wilson has also proven over the past few seasons that hitting and being an enforcer is not the only thing he is good at.

In three of the past four seasons Wilson has registered twenty plus goals. He had 24 goals last season, 21 goals in 20-21, and 22 goals in 18-19. He was well on his way to four straight twenty goal seasons but the COVID shortened season of 20-21 limited him to only 13 goals in 47 games.

This season with the pace he is on he would have easily been able to score twenty plus goals again. However, in the playoffs last season Wilson injured his knee which forced him to much a bunch of games at the start of this season. He also got hurt shortly after returning this season forcing him to miss a handful of more games.

Here we are, in the middle of March and Wilson has played in just 20 games this season. That, obviously, is something no Capitals fan wanted to see.

This season, the team has needed Wilson. But when talking about number forty-three alone it is especially frustrating because when he has played this season he has contributed and has been doing so at a pace that we have yet seen.

Wilson this season has 8 goals in the 20 game he has played. Over an eighty-two game season that puts him on pace for his first thirty goal season. He would end up somewhere around 32 or 33 if he stayed at this pace and stayed healthy.

He would “only” be on pace for about 45 points, which is about average for him. His career high in points is 52, that number being set last season.

It is very annoying to watch someone’s career year be derailed thanks to injury. It sucks to watch someone have a great season then pick up an injury late and not hit a career mark. In Wilson’s case he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to have a career year thanks to an injury he suffered last season.

It’s sports, it’s hockey, it happens. It doesn’t make it less annoying to watch someone who deserves a great season fall short of hitting his full potential.

Wilson has been robbed of having a great season. While it’s not fifty goals, while it’s not forty goals, or a point per game season or a one hundred point season, thirty goals is still a terrific achievement. Especially for someone who is “just a goon” like a lot of hockey fans think.

Tom Wilson is a great hockey player. He is one of the most unique players, if not the most unique player today. He’s big, he’s physical and he can contribute.

This season he has been scoring goals at a pace we have never seen. Unfortunately, at years end it won’t look very impressive like a thirty goal season would. Hopefully for him and Capitals fans he can keep this pace up next season and maybe for a couple of more seasons and prove how good of a player he truly is.