During last night’s game, Capitals forward Tom Wilson received the ire of the Rangers, the NHL, and all of (non-Capitals) social media last night for this controversial punch of Pavel Buchnevich and later altercation with Artemi Panarin:
Some of the opinions about this were relatively measured. Others, however, were a bit more on the extreme side:
However, the NHLPA decided to go in a different direction. Although Tom Wilson will not go to jail, he’s going to be subject to a $5,000 fine, the maximum possible fine allowed by the NHL collective bargaining agreement. There will be no suspension for Wilson:
Although controversial, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan elaborated on the NHL Department of Player Safety’s likely rational in the non-suspension of Wilson:
The Capitals play the Rangers again on Wednesday, likely with Tom Wilson in the lineup.