Confirmed with Link: Tom Wilson re-signs 2years 2 mil AAV

[RandyHolt]

Here again with the exaggeration.

That's much more the type of bonehead pass you see once or twice in damn near every game...

Exaggeration, you don't say.



Go ahead and let us know the next time you see a defensemen make a pass to a member of the opposite team right in front of his own goalie, when he is about to get hit.

The fear of getting hit was a factor and it was not a coincidence it was Willy. D that are not under pressure - or say a king of the poke check fly by is bearing down on them, you may see a puck accidentally thrown out front like that once a year. If even that.

Vis was not just fresh in his mind, it was in the minds of all hockey fans that saw that monster hit.

 

[RandyHolt]

"We're not running a Sunday School here" GMGM on the signing of THE DONALD

He also basically guaranteed Stephen Peat a roster spot when Peat decided he had enough of hockey.

And Yandle too in the next series. Yandle was utterly scared the entire series as Wilson was after him time and time again.

I may be confusing the Islanders series with the next one. Whatever - Willy is a tank and players are keenly aware of who they are facing on the ice. It's their job. Coaches of course line match so the players know pregame who they will be getting a heavy dose of, causing rather restless pregame naps.

The G knows where Ovi is. The tiny PMDs know where Willy is; all after players serve notice to the league. A goon always knew where his next dance partner was. George knows. It's not Sunday School - you just can't show up. You may not survive if you do.

 

[BobRouse]

I may be confusing the Islanders series with the next one. Whatever - Willy is a tank and players are keenly aware of who they are facing on the ice. It's their job. Coaches of course line match so the players know pregame who they will be getting a heavy dose of, causing rather restless pregame naps.

The G knows where Ovi is. The tiny PMDs know where Willy is; all after players serve notice to the league. A goon always knew where his next dance partner was. George knows. It's not Sunday School - you just can't show up. You may not survive if you do.

Wilson did have a huge impact on the Isles series. Not only did that hit serve warning but it also got the Islanders to basically stop playing hockey and concentrate on Wilson. All they did was complain in the media and you can tell it threw them off their game.

I recall Brashear made a vicious hit in the Ranger series game 6 in 09 to (Blair Betts??) who was their best PKer. We ended up scoring a couple PPGs I think that game.

But the latter was a dirty hit (no worse than Stevens hit on Kariya in the 2004 finals) that the NHL was just starting to catch onto. Brash was one of the first reprimanded.

He was suspended 6 or 7 playoff games. I still think the Pens series would have tilted differently had we had him back then. Instead we had Pens crashing the crease and Kunitz crosschecking Varlamov to the head/Orpik breaking Semin's thumb.

 

[RandyHolt]

Yep, the Pens series may have been different if Brashear was out there. But it was a cheap shot and a suspension was warranted. Talk about a player that you know the opposition takes note of. Kunitz wouldn't try his stunts with the original Donald on the ice.

Yvon Labre confessed that he used to have dreams in his pregame nap of who he was going to have to fight. If you look at our rosters in his time, it's obvious we didn't have George as a GM, and could have used him as a player.

 

[g00n]

Here again with the exaggeration. That's much more the type of bonehead pass you see once or twice in damn near every game than anything remotely like, "Here! Take it! Just pweaze don't hurt me!!"

It takes putting the homer glasses on to see it that way.

Man, the length you guys'll go to to avoid admitting a simple case of hyperbole.

Yeah, Wilson scares 'em all ****less. Oh, how they flee in terror...

The guy can hit like a truck, no question. And everyone tries to avoid that all the time, from every player, because getting hit isn't productive. No one is scared ****less.

OMG give it up already.

I note you didn't quote this part, so I assume you blew right past it:

It's typical to make a slight exaggeration in order to bring a point to the forefront and make it stand out, precisely because an exact parallel presumably carries the same level of obscurity that made the point hard to see. In other words, exaggerate the dynamic so it can be seen more easily, which means it will probably also seem unrealistic.

Kind of proving my point here, m8. You don't seem like one of those pedants who thinks he's achieving intellectual purity and perfection by waging war on colorful language in the name of literalism so not sure what the hang up is. If you can't take a little hyperbole on a message board in order to make a point then you're going to have a bad time.

 

[Jags]

The bit you quoted was you defending your Kuznetsov example, not conceding that saying Wilson scares the league ****less was an overstatement.

If what you're saying now is, "My posts are riddled with hyperbole. It's all over the place. I didn't just mean that one thing," then I guess that's that. But let's not pretend that everyone else piling on aren't defending the idea that Wilson is the NHL's boogeyman.

People looking to avoid hits and injury... That's everyone, all the time. Ovi and Wilson wouldn't have the number of hits they do if everyone was turtling in terror. You suck it up and take the hit, absorb the tackle, get rolled by the wave, and so on... It's all part of it.

I'm sorry that I'm no more willing to see it your way than you are mine, but I honestly can't say I was ever scared of a check, so the notion that Wilson has the NHL scared ****less just seems silly to me, and I'm baffled that you're all so convinced that's the way it is.

I'll shut up now.

 

[g00n]

The bit you quoted was you defending your Kuznetsov example, not conceding that saying Wilson scares the league ****less was an overstatement.

If what you're saying now is, "My posts are riddled with hyperbole. It's all over the place. I didn't just mean that one thing," then I guess that's that. But let's not pretend that everyone else piling on aren't defending the idea that Wilson is the NHL's boogeyman.

People looking to avoid hits and injury... That's everyone, all the time. Ovi and Wilson wouldn't have the number of hits they do if everyone was turtling in terror. You suck it up and take the hit, absorb the tackle, get rolled by the wave, and so on... It's all part of it.

I'm sorry that I'm no more willing to see it your way than you are mine, but I honestly can't say I was ever scared of a check, so the notion that Wilson has the NHL scared ****less just seems silly to me, and I'm baffled that you're all so convinced that's the way it is.

I'll shut up now.

Would it make you feel better if we just said "Tom Wilson causes turnovers when SOME players are momentarily startled by his presence or the possibility of a painful hit that doesn't necessarily make them literally **** their pants but rattles them enough to make mistakes"? Because that really clears things up and changes the entire point.

edit: and it's SO much easier to type and more fun to read/contemplate

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The bit you quoted was you defending your Kuznetsov example, not conceding that saying Wilson scares the league ****less was an overstatement.

If what you're saying now is, "My posts are riddled with hyperbole. It's all over the place. I didn't just mean that one thing," then I guess that's that. But let's not pretend that everyone else piling on aren't defending the idea that Wilson is the NHL's boogeyman.

People looking to avoid hits and injury... That's everyone, all the time. Ovi and Wilson wouldn't have the number of hits they do if everyone was turtling in terror. You suck it up and take the hit, absorb the tackle, get rolled by the wave, and so on... It's all part of it.

I'm sorry that I'm no more willing to see it your way than you are mine, but I honestly can't say I was ever scared of a check, so the notion that Wilson has the NHL scared ****less just seems silly to me, and I'm baffled that you're all so convinced that's the way it is.

I'll shut up now.

Sorry, but a lot of this is just hard to read. There are a ton of players out there at every level, from PeeWee to Pro, who don't, can't, and/or won't suck it up and take a hit. Some players just don't like that part of the game. To say that every hockey player is immune from fear about getting checked is a pretty absurd stand to take. Scouts often annotate which players will "go to the dirty areas" and "aren't afraid of / enjoy contact" because plenty of players shy away from the physical side of the game.

You contradict yourself in the same paragraph. Do people look to avoid hits all the time or do they suck it up and take the hit? Are you honestly arguing that in hockey there aren't players who look to avoid getting hit?

I'm not saying Wilson has guys in the fetal position rocking back and forth on the bench, but I'm baffled that you don't think intimidation is real in hockey. Do you not think part of the scouting report on Wilson is that guys need to know when he's on the ice because he's going to look to run them over at the first opportunity?

 

[g00n]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/how-the-capitals-tom-wilson-became-the-nhls-top-villain

Wilson was already feared in many circles before the Islanders series. He was a monster in major junior with the Plymouth Whalers and carried the ever-popular "next Milan Lucic" label when Washington drafted him 16th overall in 2012.

The 2015 List Issue ascended him to second in our fighter rankings – and second in our vote for the league's toughest player.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-tweet-the-meanest-things-to-caps-tom-wilson/

“If you don’t notice him, he’s not doing his job, so obviously he’s doing something right,” said former teammate Eric Fehr, now with the Penguins. “He knows what he is, and he knows the way he has to play to be effective. I mean, that’s what he does.”

What do we think noticing him means? "Oh look, there's Tom Wilson on the ice. Nice hair, m8".

Wilson’s physical play has been impossible for NHL fans to ignore, putting him in the spotlight even when he shares ice with some of the best players in the world. Connor Carrick, another former teammate, said what he first noticed about Wilson was his “fight, that compete level, that ability to get under your skin.” Mistele said players in the OHL still tell him how much they hated playing against Wilson, that “guys almost didn’t want to go on the ice against him because he’s so much bigger and stronger than everybody.” Fehr said Wilson is more skilled than he gives himself credit for, but that the 22-year-old goes back to his physical play because “that’s obviously what got him here.”

“I don’t think he’s fun to play against,” Johansson said. “He doesn’t back down from anything. He gets his nose in there and does whatever it takes.”

From december before we even got good

http://www.russianmachineneverbreak...he-habs-results-in-a-power-play-for-the-caps/

Coming into tonight’s game, Wilson ranked tenth in the NHL in drawing penalties, irritating his opponents into taking 12 minors this season. Willy Baby drew number 13 in the first period after a big hit.

A season after being targeted by officials, Wilson’s penalty differential has started to trend back up into the statrosphere. He’s a plus-five, trailing only Caps forward TJ Oshie.

If Wilson can’t score, at least he’s eating PK minutes like cotton candy and driving his opponents crazy. That will suffice for now.

Bottom Line: Wilson's style of physical play and his reputation add value beyond his offensive stats.

 

[artilector]

Bottom Line: Wilson's style of physical play and his reputation add value beyond his offensive stats.

Physical play, including added motivation for defensemen to get rid of the puck faster at times -- sure.

Intimidation in the sense of "opponents are afraid to take liberties" -- insignificant, IMO, at least when it comes to the question of paying for it.

 

[Caps8112]

this will bring the wilson haters out in droves.

hahah, yep hate the deal, but doesnt really hurt that much. Would much rather it have been Wilson to Nash instead of Forsberg but who knows if Nash was even asking for that.

 

[BobRouse]

Strong play by Wilson lately. He's been very tenacious on the puck and is not coughing it up as much. In fact he is stripping pucks from the other team even when he gets on the "wrong side" of the puck.

His hitting is a thing of beauty. His hits hurt through the TV.

His sweeping wrist shot has been on display. I thought he was going to score on Lundqvuist SH with it last night in fact.

 

[txpd]

He has really worked on his skating and that to me is the biggest improvement and facilitates much of the rest of his improvement. Last night he caught a 2 on 1 from well behind and made it an easy to defend 2 on 2. His speed is part of it.

In fact, Beagle and Winnik without him seem much slower.

 

[BobRouse]

He has really worked on his skating and that to me is the biggest improvement and facilitates much of the rest of his improvement. Last night he caught a 2 on 1 from well behind and made it an easy to defend 2 on 2. His speed is part of it.

In fact, Beagle and Winnik without him seem much slower.

No doubt. He's always been fast but he looks quicker and stronger on his skates now for sure.

He really is deceptively speedy. He's not Kreider or Chimera by any means but still.

 

[txpd]

No doubt. He's always been fast but he looks quicker and stronger on his skates now for sure.

He really is deceptively speedy. He's not Kreider or Chimera by any means but still.

He's not Rico Fata either

 

[RandyHolt]

It seemed like his skating had significantly improved 1.5 years ago... IIRC he broke his ankle one offseason, which can be assumed to have slowed any summer improvements he had hoped to work on.

The system we are in now encourages offensive creativity from all players, and it is very easy to see he benefits from a development standpoint in it, more than most.

Where he dominates most is still with his hitting. Pitt really took the wind out of our sails with quick puck moving, and our hitting seemed to vanish. It could have easily been resurrected with slow / timely dumps / cough late hits but Barry seemed to dial it back. Or, the league did to save poor Cleary from further bullying.

I want to see Ovi and Willy burying defensemen this playoffs. It's easily a difference maker when our series often come down to one game or even one goal.

 

[HeyMattyB]

I've definitely been impressed with Wilson's skating this season. He looks noticeably faster and smoother. And I think he looked surprisingly good last night on the first line as a puck-retrieval banger. He was pretty good at getting along the boards, winning battles, controlling the puck, shielding the puck, stealing the puck, and getting the puck to Nick or Ovi. If he could start cashing in on that line's scoring chances, our RW situation looks a lot better.

 

[artilector]

The giant improvement in skating was last year, IMO. That's what made him a legit NHL player. This year he's been part of the 4th line deciding (once the team magically transformed) that they want to do more than pointlessly grind -- they are all looking to make plays and succeeding pretty well. Both him and Winnik especially, now you have to do double takes regularly -- "Was that Winnik/Wilson?!" They get the puck, they are trying to find the high-scoring pass, not just throw it towards the net randomly.

And right now, Wilson has really got the skill improvement snowball rolling: more poise -> better plays -> more ice time -> more skill -> more confidence -> more poise & better plays.

This brand of possession hockey really helps elevate individual skill level -- grinders get used to passing the puck, seeing passing options, moving to get open; they start to value possession more, seeing how much better things are with the puck, so think twice about throwing it away somewhere -- learning to make better, more patient reads. Eventually they remember how they all used to be scoring machines in juniors, and then we get late 90s Detroit supergrinders

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

He has really worked on his skating and that to me is the biggest improvement and facilitates much of the rest of his improvement. Last night he caught a 2 on 1 from well behind and made it an easy to defend 2 on 2. His speed is part of it.

In fact, Beagle and Winnik without him seem much slower.

Perhaps he used the same skating coach that Beagle did.

A speedy Wilson is a mighty scary player for the opposition.

 

[usiel]

The giant improvement in skating was last year, IMO. That's what made him a legit NHL player. This year he's been part of the 4th line deciding (once the team magically transformed) that they want to do more than pointlessly grind -- they are all looking to make plays and succeeding pretty well. Both him and Winnik especially, now you have to do double takes regularly -- "Was that Winnik/Wilson?!" They get the puck, they are trying to find the high-scoring pass, not just throw it towards the net randomly.

And right now, Wilson has really got the skill improvement snowball rolling: more poise -> better plays -> more ice time -> more skill -> more confidence -> more poise & better plays.

This brand of possession hockey really helps elevate individual skill level -- grinders get used to passing the puck, seeing passing options, moving to get open; they start to value possession more, seeing how much better things are with the puck, so think twice about throwing it away somewhere -- learning to make better, more patient reads. Eventually they remember how they all used to be scoring machines in juniors, and then we get late 90s Detroit supergrinders

Obviously the biggest development is the hands/touch and confidence improvement. Plus obviously the coaching staff encouraging the 4th line to be offensive. One aspect of his game that has not seem to have improved, which kinda seems ridiculous, is puck protecting when he has the puck grinding the walls in the offensive zone....seems like he falls down way too easy when he gets leaned on.

 

[BobRouse]

Obviously the biggest development is the hands/touch and confidence improvement. Plus obviously the coaching staff encouraging the 4th line to be offensive. One aspect of his game that has not seem to have improved, which kinda seems ridiculous, is puck protecting when he has the puck grinding the walls in the offensive zone....seems like he falls down way too easy when he gets leaned on.

In the last couple weeks it has improved significantly in my eyes. Now when he is tied up with an opposing player he wins almost everytime.

I think you are correct about the confidence more than anything being the big factor.

 

[Devil Dancer]

These old re-signing threads are killing me. Motion to rename them!

@calicapsfan

 

[Calicaps]

These old re-signing threads are killing me. Motion to rename them!

I had the same reaction. Will do some housekeeping.

 

[Calicaps]

Closing this thread so we can all stop having coronary events. Please use the player discussion threads until we have new contract info.