August 16, 2023 by Josh Boulton

The Washington Capitals signed Tom Wilson to a seven-year contract extension worth $45.5 million that runs through 2030-31 on August 4.

Wilson is discredited by many fans across the league for his penchant for skirting the line between toughness and dirtiness. However, if you take an honest look at his overall game, it’s difficult to ignore his all-around ability.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound power forward made the transformation from a potential enforcer into a legitimate NHL prospect in major junior. Wilson tallied 85 points in 97 games for the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers over the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, including 58 points in 48 games in 2012-13, which is well over a point per game at 1.21.

In the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, which consisted of busts such as Nail Yakupov (1st overall) and Alex Galchenyuk (3rd overall), Wilson was scooped up by the Capitals in the first-round with the 16th overall pick. The Toronto native cracked the Capitals’ roster in 2013-14, where he racked up 10 points and 151 penalty minutes in 82 games as a rookie on the fourth line.

By 2017-18, he again adapted his game to the point where his talent, even at the highest level, couldn’t be ignored. Wilson has spent the better part of his NHL career playing well deserved first line minutes and has a 2018 Stanley Cup ring to his credit.

During the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, along with punishing series-changing hits to Alex Wennberg (Columbus Blue Jackets, first round), Brian Dumoulin and Zach Aston-Reese (Pittsburgh Penguins, second round), and Jonathan Marchessault (Vegas Golden Knights, Stanley Cup Final), Wilson notched 15 points in his 21 playoff games en route to winning the Cup with the Capitals.

Trailing the Blue Jackets two games to none in the opening round of the 2018 playoffs, the fear inducing Wilson opened the scoring in Game 3 to start a season saving run for the Capitals, and then chipped in with a goal and an assist in Game 4 to help keep his team alive.

On a team loaded with skill that included Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and T.J. Oshie, Wilson at the very least was an honourable mention for the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the playoffs, and I believe he should have won it. The Capitals’ organization rewarded him that summer with a six-year, 31 million dollar deal that still has one year remaining on it.

Since then, he’s quietly lived up to his end of the bargain. In his first five NHL seasons, Wilson played 391 regular season games and amassed 35 goals as well as between 130 and 190 penalty minutes per season. In the past five years since signing that six-year contract, he’s still racked up almost 100 penalty minutes per season, but he’s also produced a whopping 93 goals in 289 games, including three 20-goal seasons.

That’s over two and a half times the number of total goals scored over the same previous span. Even more impressively, since he only played 289 games over that span, his goals per game average increased from 0.09 to 0.32.

He’s also seemingly figured out the discipline side of things as well. Often the target of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, between 2013 and 2018 the controversial Wilson was suspended five times and fined twice. Since becoming a $31 million man he’s toned that down to just one suspension and one fine. Both punishments came over a two month span in 2021.

With the announcement of a seven-year extension at a similar cap hit, the Capitals have expressed a belief that both these trends will continue. It’s a big nod to the big man and a testament to his ability to adapt even when many wanted him thrown to the wolves.