Washington Capitals: Time For Tom Wilson To Adapt His Game

Whether it’s fair or not, Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson has to modify his approach to the game

Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson had an impressive year for the Caps. He went from being a bottom-six forward to sticking on their top forward line. Granted, that line is driven by Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. But Wilson’s ability to retrieve pucks and win battles along the board allowed the two stars to focus on what they do best. Calling him a product of Ovechkin and Kuznetsov doesn’t do justice for what he does for them.

He’s proven this year that he’s a legitimate NHL forward. However, there’s a dark side to Wilson. He’s a big guy, at 6-foot-4 and 218 lbs. Naturally, Wilson likes to throw his weight around. But he tends to do so in a reckless manner.

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Wilson’s career has been filled with controversial hits. He has the distinct honor of pissing off both of the Schenn brothers. Almost every team in the Metropolitan Division has justification to call him a dirty player. More often than not, Wilson has escaped suspension because his hits, while reckless and dangerous, have usually been within the guidelines.

Recently, he’s crossed the line. The 2017 preseason saw Wilson get suspended twice, making him a repeat offender by the Department of Player Safety standards. It also earned him a meeting with new DoPS head honcho George Parros. Though these were the first two suspensions of Wilson’s career, it should have been obvious to him that he was going to be watched.

For a while, he seemed to have learned his lesson. Wilson didn’t deliver any controversial hits during the 2017-18 regular season. He also served as one of the Capitals’ top penalty-killing forwards. However, Wilson has proven so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that he still has much to learn.

His hit to Columbus Blue Jackets forward Alex Wennberg in the first-round was bad, but to be fair to him, the head was not the primary point of contact. This was not the case for his infamous hit to Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin during Game 2 of the second round as well.

It’s fair to ask what the Pens blueliner could have done, with Wilson approaching him from behind and Alex Ovechkin standing in his way. But after Dumoulin braced for contact with Ovi (a perfectly sound and reasonable decision given the circumstances), his head lowered a bit, which caused Wilson to hit him in the head instead of the shoulder. Head contact was deemed unavoidable. While there’s an argument intent shouldn’t matter because hitting someone in the head is dangerous, the rules give a bit of leeway.

After Game 2, Wilson should have connected the dots and realized he got a little bit lucky. Instead, he continued to push the boundaries in Game 3. In fact, Wilson pushed it way too far. His hit to Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese was reckless and, worst of all, unnecessary. He suffered a broken jaw and a concussion on the play. Though no penalty was called on the play, the Department of Player Safety still suspended Wilson for three games.

If you watch the video, it’s clear Wilson goes out of his way to deliver a dangerous hit to Aston-Reese. He has a clean hit lined up with his right shoulder. The outcome might well have been similar, given Wilson’s four-inch height advantage over Aston-Reese. However, had he led with his right shoulder, this puts him in a much better position to adjust his hit if necessary.

Instead, Wilson decides to lead with his left shoulder, finishing his hit so his shoulder hits Aston-Reese in the chin. This isn’t new for him. Wilson has consistently made bad decisions such as this, ignoring effective and legal checks to deliver reckless ones. He’s been given warnings before, but this time the message is clear – Tom Wilson must change his game.

And let’s be honest, the league needs to change their rules too. You can high-stick a guy in the face by accident. Guess what? It doesn’t matter why you did it. You still get a penalty. Why treat head contact any different? Make any contact to the head a penalty and eligible for supplemental discipline.

That’s the only way the NHL is going to address their issues regarding hits to head and concussions. Yes, head injuries will still happen. But at least the NHL will be able to point to their rules and say, “we’re doing the best we can to protect our players”.

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Hopefully, this serves as a wake-up call for Tom Wilson. A number of players have been dirty but wisened up. Wilson doesn’t need to look far for a great example, as Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin used to deliver reckless hits on a fairly regular basis. He has since cleaned up his game.

If Wilson wants to change, he can. Many have tried and failed, but he must prove everyone wrong and change his game to a more effective and less reckless one. Or Wilson might be immortalized as “that guy who delivered reckless hits” instead of “that fellow who was a productive NHL forward”.

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