From Beauvillier to Wilson, we’re taking a look at and grading the 2024-25 season for every player who laced ‘em up for the Washington Capitals for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2025-24. Last up, Tom Wilson.
The Bio:
#43 | Right Wing | Shoots: Right
Height: 6’4” | Weight: 225 | Born: March 29, 1994
Birthplace: Toronto, ON | Acquired: Drafted 16th overall by the Caps in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Cap Hit: $6,500,000 | Signed Through: 2030-31 | Expiry Status: Unrestricted Free Agent
The Scouting Report (via EP)
The Stats:
The Charts:
The Key Stat: Wilson finished the season with 33 goals, his first 30+ goal season of his career. He joined Alex Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas as the only Caps to crack the 30-goal plateau; the Caps were one of just five teams in the NHL to have at least three 30-goal scorers.
The Good: 2024-25 was the definition of a bounceback season for Wilson, who followed an injury-shortened campaign in 2022-23 with a lackluster 2023-24 – in fact, he finished the season with two more goals than he scored in the two previous seasons combined. Along the way, he crushed his previous highs in goals, assists, points, power-play goals, power-play points, shorthanded points, game-winners, overtime goals…basically every offensive category was better than ever for big #43, down to his underlying numbers. He even rebounded when it came to discipline, dropping from 133 PIM to 100 even this year (still high but about where you’d expect to see Wilson in his older, wiser form).
Once the postseason rolled around, it took a game or two but he soon became a game-changer for the Caps – literally, turning a huge hit on Montreal’s Alexandre Carrier into what would be the turning point for both the game and the first-round series against the Habs:
Absolutely ridiculous in the best, most Wilson-esque way. In between laying out huge checks and becoming a human meme, he also did his fair share of scoring, trailing only Dylan Strome among all Caps in offense over the team’s 10-game run with three goals and seven points.
The Bad: Honestly, there wasn’t a ton to dislike about Wilson’s 2024-25 season. Sure, he still occasionally took too many penalties – or was called for things because he is Tom Wilson – but as noted, it was still down from the season before. He did struggle a bit in the underlying numbers; nothing too concerning, as he was still on the positive side in most stats, but he ended up only around the middle of the pack among the Caps in a number of areas (e.g. he was at just over 53% in xGF% and 2.42 xGF%Rel).
The Video: Welcome to the club, Tom!
The Discussion: Do you think Wilson’s bounceback season is something he can build on next season, or do you see it as an outlier? He clearly has excellent chemistry with Pierre-Luc Dubois, but is that a good spot for him long-term – and who is the better fit to round out that line if so, Connor McMichael or Aliaksei Protas? What do you want to see out of Wilson as he heads into what is likely his final season not wearing the captain’s C?
The Vote: Rate Tom Wilson below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – so if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.