Tom Wilson has only dropped the gloves only two times this season. And according to Wilson, that isn’t by accident.
In late January, Wilson appeared on Sportsnet’s “After Hours” and explained his rationale for fighting less to Scott Oake.
“Yeah, the boys were chirping me the other day, there were a couple guys on my team that have more PIMs than me,” Wilson said to Oake. “I think that was before I had six penalty minutes [against Ottawa on Jan. 16] to get them up a little bit. It’s one of those things where if I didn’t have to sit in the box for five minutes, sometimes a lot more if you don’t get a whistle, I just want to be on the ice now.”
Wilson is on pace for just three fights and 75 penalty minutes this season. The 6-foot-4 winger has never had a season with fewer than 78 penalty minutes, including the 2022-23 campaign, where he played just 33 games, and the 2020-21 season, where he played just 47 games.
“As I’ve played more minutes, the responsibility grows in this league,” Wilson said. “I just don’t want to be sitting there for that long. Obviously, there’s a time and a place sticking up for teammates or a momentum changer in the game. I just want to be out there playing and having an effect on the game, finishing checks, making plays, and having an effect that way.”
Wilson is playing a career-high 18:51 of ice time per game this season under Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery. The 30-year-old forward plays on the club’s first power-play unit, averages the third-most penalty-kill ice time per game (1:37) among Washington forwards, and is consistently in the team’s top-six forward group.
The increased responsibility, including being named a full alternate captain ahead of this season, has allowed Wilson to contribute the most offensively he has in his career. At the 55-game mark of this year, Wilson is on pace to record career-highs in goals (36) and points (63). He also leads the Capitals in power-play goals with 10, four more than the NHL’s all-time leader in the category, Alex Ovechkin (6).
Outside of Wilson simply wanting to avoid the box more, the Capitals have also seen 2024 free-agent acquisition Brandon Duhaime step more into the team’s enforcer role. Duhaime has five fights this year and has averaged seven bouts in the NHL per year over the past three seasons.
Despite focusing less on face-punching as has in the past, Wilson has still managed to leave a physical mark on games, collecting a team-high 156 hits, which is 18th most in the league. He was also the Capitals player who made Utah forward Jack McBain answer for breaking Ovechkin’s leg in a November game this year.
Additionally, Wilson was still able to record his first-ever Gordie Howe hat trick this season, scoring a goal, grabbing an assist, and fighting Montreal’s Josh Anderson on Halloween.
Wilson only dropped the gloves with Anderson after the big Canadiens winger jumped him. Wilson had thrown a big hit on defenseman Kaiden Guhle moments before.
