An independent arbitrator has reduced the suspension for Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson to 14 games. Wilson has already missed 16 games this season, and while the games missed cannot be remedied, he will receive his pay for those two games. The NHL Department of Player Safety originally suspended Wilson for 20 games for his pre-season check to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist.
Tom Wilson’s suspension reduced to 14 games by arbitrator. No time machine to play, but does get salary back
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 13, 2018
Washington Capitals Tom Wilson Suspension Reduced to 14 Games
The Arbitrator’s reasoning for reducing the suspension was the unprecedented nature of the length. He cited former NHLer Patrick Kaleta‘s history of suspensions and their shorter lengths.
In Tom Wilson susp. reduction, arbitrator wrote:
– Agreed w/ Bettman head was main point of contact and hit was avoidable.
– Parros said no intent to injure from Wilson.
– NHL didn’t suspend Patrick Kaleta similarly for frequent illegal checks. Lack of precedent = ban reduced. pic.twitter.com/Q3pBlmR4CG— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) November 13, 2018
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 NHL 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 Capitals.
Last season, Wilson had a career year. He scored 14 goals and added 21 assists for 35 points in 78 games. He also had 187 minutes in penalties. He also put up five goals and 10 assists in 21 Stanley Cup Playoff games. 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 Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Main Photo: LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 07: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals and Deryk Engelland #5 of the Vegas Golden Knights battle for the puck during the third period in Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
