CapitalsCupReality
It’s Go Time!!
- Feb 27, 2002
- 64,737
- 19,606
How do you prove something that never happened? I'm not criticizing, merely pointing out reality and that reality is that he's become an impact player (last season), and progressed most noticeably defensively and some offensively (this season), at age 21. Many here suggested his career was about to be ruined or his development was severely diminished by making the Caps his first two years. I called Bologna then and I stand by that opinion today. I was reading that Kuznetzov article and one comment stuck with me. He made a comment about nobody being able to be taught skill after 16 (paraphrasing). I immediately thought of Wilson. Many here thought he would have done so much better if he was sent down and playing in all situations. Not that it would have been bad, but I think his skillset is what it is. If anything he can improve some things to a small, but probably still impactful degree at this point in life. He could probably work on his shot and improve still, maybe his skating. He's got some hockey IQ that will continue to grow as a pro. What else? We'll never be able to prove that he could have been better but we can point to his successes and positives in his career arc so far that suggest his development was handled correctly early on.