We almost forgot we didn’t quite preview Tom Wilson’s season yet here at Stars and Sticks. That’s what happens when the Washington Capitals re up a future team captain. We write about the deal, a little bit about the presser, and grade it.
But this article isn’t talking about contract numbers. We don’t have to worry about that anymore. Had the Caps not re signed Tom Wilson last month this post would’ve taken a turn for how much they should re up him for and how NHL fans can dream on about him being on a team other than the Caps.
So now that Wilson will be a Washington Capital for the next seven seasons we can focus on the future. And what a difference a summer makes.
Last summer Wilson was rehabbing from a torn ACL injury that he suffered in the beginning of the 2022 playoffs. This summer, he’s been training hard. I don’t need to tell you that. Just look at his Instagram.
All that training in Canada has ended and yesterday the Caps tweeted pics of Tom Wilson back on the ice at informal skates with the words “found the source of the dc heat”.
found the source of the dc heat pic.twitter.com/RMbXMX4Wsh
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 8, 2023
Yes it’s been hot around DC. This is (or was if you like football) the hottest summer ever. Maybe the second summer after the false fall really took shape when Wilson landed in DC.
With a full offseason of training, Wilson should be ready to go for opening night. Last season he wasn’t ready until January. That was a shame but torn ACLs are no joke.
We’ll look at two stat lines. The healthy season in 2021 22 and the shortened season for Wilson last season. What we saw in the former was a career high 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points. He even scored in the playoffs before the injury.
What we saw last year was just a small sample size of 33 games. But he did have 13 goals and nine assists for 22 points. What’s really exciting about this season is not only a healthy Wilson but a Wilson without contract distractions and no lame duck season is coming up.
We’ll have player predictions once we’re done knocking out the previews very soon but here’s an early spoiler on Wilson, I think this is the year he flirts with 30 goals.