Tom Wilson: 2021-22 season review

What’s there to say about Tom Wilson that has not already been said about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?

By the Numbers

Visualization by HockeyViz

About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows lots of information for the player over the season. A short description of each chart:

• Most common teammates during 5-on-5
• Ice time per game, split up by game state
• 5-on-5 adjusted shot attempts by the team (black) and opponents (red)
• 5-on-5 adjusted shooting percentage by the team (black) and opponents (red)
• Individual scoring events by the player
• 5-on-5 adjusted offensive (black) and defensive (red) zone starts

Fan Happiness Survey

About this visualization: At three times during the season, RMNB shared an open survey with fans, asking the following question for each player:

On a scale from 1 to 5, how HAPPY are you to have this player on the team?

1 means VERY UNHAPPY TO HAVE THEM ON THE TEAM
2 means UNHAPPY
3 means NEITHER HAPPY NOR UNHAPPY
4 means HAPPY
5 means VERY HAPPY TO HAVE THEM ON THE TEAM

The numbers above show the average score for the player in each survey period.

Exit Interview

Peter’s Take

Before the season began, I said I’d track Tom Wilson’s drama quotient closely, so here are those results:

• career low in penalties taken
• virtual tie for fewest major penalties (and fights) in a season
• no supplemental discipline (fines or suspensions) of any kind

There was one play that drew criticism — this heavy hit on Boston’s Anton Blidh — but that criticism seemed restricted to the terminally online crowd.

It’d be inelegant for me to belabor the point any further, and that’s sorta my whole thing, so of course I will. Tom Wilson did what you asked, nay, what you demanded. Your outrage was heard and internalized. He moderated his game, and now he awaits your acknowledgement and gratitude.

Ah, yes, there is none coming.

Quick interlude to make this all about me. You goblins have made me insecure every time I write about Tom Wilson. I’ve at times been an emphatic critic of his violence, and I’ve also celebrated his successes, and I’ve been considered the worst kind of villain for both. I think I’m neither. I’m a fan of Tom Wilson who didn’t like it when his sole role was fighting, thought he had genuine skill at both grinding and offense, thought he needed to play smarter (rather than just say he would), but also thought he was at times made a target for spurious reasons. So please either consider me a person with complicated thoughts or a hypocrite, but please neither a fanboy nor a hater.

Back to hockey, I want to talk about role. I don’t think Tom Wilson is the top-line off-wing for Alex Ovechkin we used to think he was. Starting from the notion that Ovechkin-Kuznetsov need a neutral-zone driver of play from the right wing, Wilson ain’t it. HockeyViz concludes that in 2021-22 Wilson depressed offense by about 5.5 percentage points compared to league average. (His solid defensive suppression more than offset it though.)

Here again are the various right wings with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov and their combined on-ice shot-attempt percentages. Fifty percent is even, and 60 percent would be awesome.

Wilson got the most ice time of any RW, but Washington got outshot in that time. (Of course they were in the black in goals, but that’s just how Ovi and Kuzy do.)

All I mean by this is that the Capitals should explore different options for that top line, which is kind of a moot point as Wilson will be out for multiple months following his ACL surgery, required following the “freak thing” in Game One with MacKenzie Weegar.

I don’t expect Wilson back until December, which opens up a lot of cap space for a couple months (though the saved cap space does not accrue daily, based on a CBA rule that I definitely understand and definitely am not quickly glossing over to pretend I understand it). I’ve no idea what the Capitals will do until Wilson’s back, but I’m eager to see him back.

According to Orson Welles

Willy on RMNB

• Wilson’s boxing studio, BASH, opened up a location in… Pittsburgh.
• Alan May on then Rangers Wilsoning themselves: “He got everyone fired last year, the coach, the GM, and the president.”
• Wilson on the Rangers: “If you ask them, this is a big rivalry now.” (Rangers made the conference final, so…)
• In early season game with the team riddled by injury, Wilson served as alternate captain.
• Wilson had the primary assist on Sergei Ovechkin’s goal on Ilya Samsonov.
• In December, Wilson got banged up in a game against Pittsburgh. He went on IR and missed most of the month.
• Zoe Laming’s goalie mask is a tribute to Wilson.
• A “beautiful hit” on Anton Blidh. Kind of a classic Wilson hit in that it was technically clean but very hard — hard enough to injure Blidh.
• Meanwhile, this happened.

• Tom Wilson, All-Star.
• On his strategy for the ASG: “Dump and chase! We’re going to dump and chase.” At the ASG, Wilson got booed by fans. And also by Kuznetsov. He scored 13 seconds into the game, and his team won the tournament.
• Joe Jonas, I guess, to Wilson: “You are very good at this sport!”
• Wilson traded a fan a puck for a dog toy, and then fed the toy to Nic Dowd? Normal team.
• Shutting down Quinn Hughes to set up the OTGWG.

• Brendan Smith got Wilson with this one, drawing blood, but, uh, well, just take a look at what happened ten days later.
• Wilson set a career high in points and in goals.
• Tom and kittens: deal with it.

• Wilson gave away his stick to a family who adopted a puppy from Wolf Trap Animal Rescue.
• All about the Tom Wilson “TRASH” jersey. This one amuses me on many levels.
• Wilson did a big hit on Evgenii Dadonov.
• Wilson did a bit hit on Barrett Hayton.
• Players hate playing against Tom Wilson. Players wish Tom Wilson was on their team.
• Wilson’s season ended abruptly. After scoring an early goal, Wilson suffered a knee injury that ended his season despite the team being excessively coy about it. At the end of May he got surgery. His earliest expected return is end of November.

Your Turn

Let’s place bets on Wilson’s return date. I’ve got December 5. When he’s back, where do you imagine him playing?

Read more: Japers Rink