5 minute penalty is a good trade-off if it keeps your stars from being injured by goons, and then off the ice for X number of games.
You may not see "evidence" of this that you can put in a spreadsheet but that doesn't mean it's not true.
What evidence do you have to suggest that putting Tom Wilson alongside star players will prevent them from getting injured? This includes Tom Wilson, who is also a star player for the Capitals.
The conversation is also kind of moot because if Tom Wilson is alongside Ovechkin and Kuznetsov, he is no longer alongside Backstrom and Vrana, who are also star players. I guess Frederic will just run roughshod over them instead.
Unless they put Garnet Hathaway alongside Backstrom and Vrana.
But then that will leave TJ Oshie exposed on the third line, so Frederic will just go after him.
Unless they move Brenden Dillon to the third forward line, move Carl Hagelin to the 3rd defense pairing, and put Conor Sheary on the 4th line.