Home / News / It’s official! NHL players hate playing against Tom Wilson, but really wish he was on their team.

It’s official! NHL players hate playing against Tom Wilson, but really wish he was on their team.

By Chris Cerullo and Ian Oland

 3 Comments

April 28, 2022 3:08 pm

When general hockey fans spew hate towards our dear Tom Wilson on social media, Capitals fans usually retort RENT FREE. After that, they usually point out that those angry fans would absolutely love Tom if he was on their favorite team. Now we have confirmation this is true but with real-life hockey players.

The NHLPA released its annual season-ending player poll on Wednesday. One of the questions on the poll was Which player do you least enjoy playing against, but would like to have on your team?

Wilson received 10.7 percent of the vote, good for third place. You’d think he’d be higher, but the rat king, Brad Marchand (26.4 percent), who plays a very sandpaper-y game, and Connor McDavid (18.3 percent), the most skilled player in the NHL, finished ahead of him.

Red Wings star Dylan Larkin was one of the players that voted for Tom. “Every time we play against him you’re on your toes looking for him all game,” he said. “I would rather have that on my side.”

Seattle Kraken winger and former member of the New York Islanders (a Capitals rival), Jordan Eberle, was in agreement. Eberle gave a wry smile before saying Tom’s name.

Last summer, Wilson was found to be the most hated player in the NHL amongst fans after a betting company used a “social listening tool” called FALCON to determine a ranking.

This season, Wilson has set career highs in goals (24), assists (28), and points (52) while also receiving his first All-Star Game nod. If Wilson avoids getting in a fight or called for a minor penalty in the Capitals’ final two games, he will stay under 100 PIMs for only the third time in his career.

In total, 566 NHL players from all 32 teams were anonymously surveyed for the NHLPA poll. The questions ranged from individual player skills, arena ice, and the best current women’s hockey player. Two other Caps stars fared well in other questions.

Ovechkin was the winner of the Which Player Do You Wish You Could Shoot Like category, finishing 29.1 percent above the next highest player, Auston Matthews.

Screenshot: NHLPA

Backstrom was voted the third-best passer in the league at 15.4 percent, finishing behind Leon Draisaitl (17.7 percent) and Patrick Kane (15.6 percent).

Here are some of the other results which include an appearance from former Caps player Cody Eakin due to his, uh, memorable hair, Tom Brady, and Marie-Philip Poulin.

More results from the NHLPA Poll

Screenshot: NBC Sports Washington

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