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Tom Wilson will become the youngest forward in Capitals history to play 500 games tonight

By Ian Oland

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January 13, 2020 11:53 am

Somewhat incredibly, Tom Wilson is already halfway to playing 1,000 career games in the NHL. He’s only 25 years old.

Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes will officially mark Wilson’s 500th of his career. And according to the Capitals, the Stanley Cup champion is the youngest forward in franchise history to hit the mark.

A few bullets about the accomplishment.

  • Wilson is the 28th player in franchise history to hit 500 games.
  • Tom is the third player from 2012 NHL Draft to reach the mark (Alex Galchenyuk: 525 games; Morgan Rielly: 515 games).
  • At 25 years and 290 days old, Wilson will become the third youngest player (Scott Stevens: 24 years, 264 days; Kevin Hatcher: 25 years, 139 days) and the youngest forward in franchise history to play 500 games.

Wilson hit the mark quicker than almost all of his other peers in the 2012 NHL Draft despite a 20-game suspension in 2018 (which was later reduced by an arbitrator and he served 16 games) and several injuries.

The season after he was drafted, Wilson played three games for the Capitals in the 2013 postseason (and the Hershey Bears) and then made the Caps roster the very next year (2013-14 season), playing in 82 games. Wilson made his NHL debut when he was 19 years, 6 months, 2 days old.

After spending his first four seasons as a pugilist and scoring only 21 goals in 313 games, Wilson has matured into a legitimate first-line player. Wilson had a career season last year, tallying 22 goals and 40 points in 63 games. This year he’s on pace to shatter all of his career highs again, posting 13 goals, 17 assists, and 30 points in 45 games.

Congratulations, Tom. This is a round-number accomplishment to be proud of.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong

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