149 games into his NHL career, is anyone confident they know what the Caps have in Tom Wilson? Probably not. But that’s okay. While 2014-15 provided more questions than answers about his usage and development, there’s still things to appreciate and time for Whip to develop.
By the Numbers
| 67 | Games played |
| 10:56 | Average time on ice per game |
| 4 | Goals |
| 13 | Assists |
| 54.1% | Shot attempt percentage during 5v5 |
| 48.9% | Goal percentage during 5v5 |
Wilson’s on-ice shot-attempt percentage in 10-game running segments, according to War on Ice:
Pat’s Take
Wilson is not a bust and shouldn’t be considered one, regardless of where his career goes from here. He was drafted 16th overall in 2012 and has already played in 149 games. 40 percent of 16th overall picks never accumulate even 100 NHL games and only 25 percent becomes anything more than an NHL regular.
It’s also easy to forget how young Wilson is. Through his age-20 season, he’s appeared in 149 games and notched 27 points. Only 84 other players in the history of the NHL have accumulated that number of games and points by the completion of their age-20 season. This isn’t to say that more shouldn’t expected of Wilson, and if he never amounted to more than a fourth liner, that’d be disappointing. But at this point, patience and perspective should prevail.
Zeroing in on 2014-15, there were things Wilson did well:
- He improved the Caps share of shot attempts by 1.71 percent when he was on the ice.
- His +4 penalty differential tied for third best with Alex Ovechkin among the team’s forwards.
- At 1.07 assists per 60, Wilson ranked 3rd out of the 12 forwards who played 500-plus 5v5 minutes.
- With Whip on the first line, the Caps saw 54.8 percent of the shot attempts and scored 57.1 percent of the goals.
But yet, it’s fair to want more.
For their part, the Caps could do more to help his development. Nothing should be handed to him, but an opportunity at a role in the middle-six is what he needs at this point. Yet, he spent the entirety of the season riding shotgun with Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom, or buried on the fourth line.
Looking ahead to 2015-16, it’s time for the Caps to give Wilson middle-six minutes and it’s up to him to seize the opportunity.
Whip on RMNB
- It’s Tom and Jamie Foxx! Triple threats!
- More than any other player, Tom Wilson was hated by Islanders fans– or maybe that’s just the way the media played it. Either way, Wilson took the hate in stride— even when the Best Fourth Line in Hockey™ got dirty with him. You can understand why is escalated though: Wilson basically killed poor Lubomir Visnovsky.
- Still, this is what Kyle Okposo had to say: “He’s an idiot. That guy runs around, he hits reckless. He jumps, leaves his feet. There’s no place for that.”
- I don’t know about the jumping and stuff, but you could argue that Wilson has a charging problem. One thing about charging: you can’t do it when you have the puck.
- Latta and Wilson are roommates. For a while Burakovsky lived with them too. Burra and Wilson used to wrestle. This is the last time we’re linking to this story.
- DC Modern Luxury Magazine, which I assume is a magazine about luxury in DC between the years of 1500 and 1815, named Tom Wilson a “man of style.” There’s a photo in case your ovaries are currently unexploded.
- On the ice, Willy made a whole lot of hit sandwiches. It happened many times. He was a busy sandwich artist.
- Wilson was Washington’s chief antagonist, pissing off as many guys as possible during games– and even before, as Evgeni Malkin learned.
- I mean, we figured it was newsworthy on the occasion that Wilson did NOT fight.
- “No one touches our dad.” That was a cute moment, but this was cuter.
- Finally, this was Tom Wilson’s first goal of the season, which– well, you’ll see.
Your Turn
Moving forward, what do you expect from Wilson? And how do you think the Caps should use him?
Read more: Japers Rink
