While Tom Wilson might be highly-regarded among Capitals teammates and fans, his popularity outside of the district remains a challenge. Though it appears to be improving.
The Athletic published an NHL player poll on Wednesday where NHL’ers answered questions such as who are the best, worst, and most overrated in the league; the best and worst cities to play in; and their favorite referees.
Wilson ranked in a seven-way tie for 13th in the important and vital question: “Who’s the player in the league whose face you most want to punch?”
Wilson received 1.36 percent of the vote, falling well behind the winner Nick Cousins (28.57 percent), second place Brad Marchand (14.97 percent), and third-place Matthew Tkachuk (7.48 percent). Former Capital Garnet Hathaway sits sixth at 3.4 percent.
Tom did, however, get a special callout from one unknown player.
“He’s not a rat. I respect that,” an NHL’er said to The Athletic. “But I’d still like to punch him.”
So to be clear, this player wants to punch Tom in the kisser, but… respectfully. (I love this sport.)
Wilson, a notorious trash talker who has been suspended five different times, currently sits third in the NHL in penalty minutes (86) — a number powered by four fights and two misconducts. The Capitals right wing sits eighth in the NHL in minors per 60 (1.64) among forwards in all situations. Wilson leads all Capitals players and ranks 12th in the league with 125 hits so far this season.
The results today comes after Wilson finished third in an NHLPA poll which posed the question: Who do you least enjoy playing against, but would like to have on your team? Wilson received 8.1 percent of the vote, finishing behind Brad Marchand (36.5 percent) and Connor McDavid (15.6 percent).
So while Wilson is like sandpaper to most opposing players, he’s garnering admiration for his overall play after winning a Stanley Cup in 2018 and becoming a two-time All-Star.
The results today are a far cry from years earlier where Wilson was easily the most hated player in the NHL among fans in 2021.
