The Department of Player Saftey announced that Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson has been suspended for 20 games without pay. This is his fourth career suspension. It is also his third suspension in the last 13 months. Per CapFriendly, Wilson loses a total of $1,260,162.44 in salary during the suspension.

Washington’s Tom Wilson suspended twenty games for an Illegal Check to the Head on St. Louis’ Oskar Sundqvist. https://t.co/ojQ4yN6oFN

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 3, 2018

Tom Wilson Suspended

Tom Wilson was suspended for 20 games without pay for an incident with St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist. Wilson delivered an open-ice hit to the head of Sunqvist during the second period of Sunday’s pre-season game. He was ejected from the game after the hit.

Wilson has spent his entire five year NHL career with the Capitals. He has scored 35 goals and 69 assists for 104 career points in 391 career games. In 62 career Stanley Cup Playoff games Wilson has eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points. He was originally drafted 16th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Caps.

Last season, Wilson had a career year. He scored 14 goals and adding 21 assists for 35 points in 78 games. He also had 187 minutes in penalties. He had five goals and 10 assists in 21 Stanley Cup Playoff games last season. His possession numbers were 50.4 percent Corsi-for with a relative Corsi of +3.1. Wilson often played on the Capitals top line with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Kuznetsov.

What This Means for the Future

Wilson who is the Caps first line right-winger has gotten a bad reputation for delivering dirty hits throughout his career. He has no problem throwing the body around as he recorded 250 hits last season. With Wilson out of the line-up expect T.J. Oshie to take over his spot on the Caps top line. He has proven to the Caps that he can be a producer on the offensive side of the body which makes him a solid top-six forward on any team.

Main Photo: WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 29: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals leaves the ice after being called for penalty in the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Verizon Center on April 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)