Tom Wilson, the “forechecking god” according to Connor McDavid, keeps getting better.
By the Numbers
30
Goals
32
Assists
72
Games played
19
Minutes per game
On-ice percentages
54%
Shot attempts
56%
Expected goals
60%
Actual goals
Isolated Impact by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This image by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows how the player has impacted play when on the ice. At the top of the image is the team’s offense (even strength at left, power play at right) and at bottom is the team’s defense (with penalty kill at bottom right). In each case, red/orange blobs mean teams shoot for more from that location on the ice, and blue/purple means less. In general, a good player should have red/orange blobs near the opponent’s net at top, and blue/purple blobs near their own team’s net at bottom. The distributions in middle show how the player compares to league average at individual finishing, setting up teammates to score, and taking and drawing penalties. The number at center is Synthetic Goals: a catch-all number for the player’s impact.
Player Card by Evolving Hockey
About this player card: This card from Josh and Luke of Evolving Hockey compares the player to league averages based on their impact on on-ice statistics. GAR means “goals above replacement,” where “replacement” means an average player called up from the AHL. xGAR is the same figure but assuming league-average goaltending. The numbers at top are the player’s percentile ranks overall and then for offense and defense alone.
Player Overview by NHL Edge
About this visualization: The NHL’s advanced statistics program, Edge, tracks player and puck movement. The player’s shot speed, skating speed, and skating distance are at top along with percentile rank. At bottom left is a shot location map, and at bottom right is zone time per zone.
Gratuitous Generative Art by Peter
Peter’s Take
I give up. I have no idea where the ceiling is on Tom Wilson. I knew his rookie season was bullshit, and I knew he was better than his goon era, but I can’t say I knew he’d become the complete player he was in 2024-25, and after PLD went down with injury I definitely didn’t know he’d still put up his best season to date.
He hit 30 goals for the second season in a row, tied Ovi and McMichael for fourth in assists, played in every situation, put up elite defensive stats, hit a career high in ice time, made the Olympics and then DID A GORDIE HOWE HAT TRICK THERE.
A couple weeks ago I admitted to an internet friend that I had fully come around on Jaromir Jagr, a player I once despised but whom I now adore. There should be the same goodwill groundswell around Wilson, who does everything you could possibly want from a hockey player, now with 90 percent less the stuff you don’t want.
Here now is a complete list of every Caps skater who saw worse on-ice shot attempt or expected-goal numbers when on the ice with Wilson (minimum 90 minutes) compared to on the ice away from him:
| Player | TOI with Wilson | On-ice difference |
|---|---|---|
| – | – | – |
Dawg, it’s empty. No one. Everybody was made better by playing with Tom. That includes lorge boy Aliaksei Protas, milkman Jakob Chychrun, Marty “the Slovak lumberjack” Fehérváry, monosyllabic Matt Roy, Justin vive la Sourdifference, Rasmus “No man is an isthmus” Sandin, the second best Connor Mc in hockey, California John Carlson, Pierre-Count Dooku Dubois, Be-kind-rewind TVR, Dylan “the human abacus” Strome, and, uh, Hendrix Lapierre.
Back in 2014, I said removing the blight of Wilson’s rookie season wouldn’t reveal him to be Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or something. That’s correct. Wilson is a much better player now than RNH. A couple years ago I wrote an edgy post imaging a trade of Wilson for William Nylander. Everyone hated it, for differing reasons. I wouldn’t pitch that trade today, even as a joke.
Wilson is indispensable. I don’t know when or if he’ll be captain, and I don’t care. He’s the heart of the team, and we’re lucky to have him.
Wilson on RMNB
- Ryan Reaves on Wilson, after they hung out at Chandler Stephenson’s wedding: “He’s a great guy. He’s a great player.”
- He got the shivers watching Alex Ovechkin get introduced at the home opener.
- On where he wants to spend time: “I just want to be spending more time on the ice, less time in the box.”
- He had a three-point night in front of Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper.
- He injured Filip Chytil. No supplemental discipline.
- He was honored to be on Logan Thompson’s new mask. Maybe another pic though?
- On Mathieu Olivier’s headshot against Chisholm: “I’d be banned for life if I threw that hit.”
- Mocking Radek Faksa’s dive
- Two empty-net goals in front of Team Canada execs.
- Fights big ol’ Curtis Douglas. Wins.
- He thinks it was an ambush: “Bit of a weird line change, and all of a sudden, we’re in a fight.”
- In the NHL’s top five in goals at the end of November.
- Competing for Travis Konecny’s roster spot on Team Canada
- On Jacob Trouba’s blindside hit against Ryan Leonard: “He knows exactly what he’s doing, and the kid’s in a vulnerable spot.”
- Scored twice to pass Alex Semin on the franchise all-time goals leaderboard
- Tom Wilson named to Team Canada!
- The same day he scored a Gordie Howe hat trick. Put a pin in that.
- Team Canada teammates Wilson and Logan Thompson are ‘best buds’
- Mocking Vladislav Gavrikov
- Dumping Powerade on Justin Sourdif after his first carerer hat trick
- Beckett Sennecke on getting hit by Tom Wilson: “Welcome to the NHL.”
- He missed 8 games to a lower-body injury. We had like 50 stories about it. I cannot physically link them all.
- Tom Wilson: Fashion Cop.
- On a 10-minute misconduct in the Flames game: “Not a smart play by me in that situation.” I’m not updating that one post, but if you know you know.
- Donkey-kicked in the balls Connor McDavid
- He evaded discipline for a big hit on Logan Stankoven
- In Milan he skated on a line with Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrin and roomed with Darcy Kuemper.
- Then they ditched the Olympic Village for a five-star hotel.
- Connor McDavid on Wilson: “Forechecking god.”
- Kevin Fiala’s entire season ended after he was hospitalized after a hit by Wilson.
- Then he lost his spot on the top line with McDavid and Celebrini, but don’t worry – here it comes
- MacKinnon on Wilson fighting France’s Pierre Crinon: “I definitely appreciate him sticking up for me.”
- France banned that guy btw
- Thompson on his bestie: “That’s my bestie.”
- On his line with Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett: “I think it’s clear what our job is — to create chaos.”
- Silver.
- Jon Cooper gifted Tom Wilson a Team Canada-signed Italian hat after the GHHT
- On the Olympic experience and gold medal loss: “I’ll always think very fondly of the time, but it’ll always hurt.”
- Hitting Cole Hutson in the face with a pie
- Blowing Jack McBain a kiss
- Wilson became the third-youngest player in Capitals history to reach 900 games.
- Catching strays on a hot mic.
- He says his hit on Jack McBain was not payback for breaking Alex Ovechkin’s leg. I believe it.
- Back-to-back 30-goal seasons.
- Challenging Penguins’ Elmer Soderblom to fight
- On the Caps’ future: “We’re probably one piece away from making some serious noise.”
Your Turn
Can Tom Wilson hit 30 goals again? And do you even care if he’s captain?
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