Caps’ Wilson has suspension cutto14games

Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson had his 20-game suspension reduced to 14 by an arbitrator and is eligible to play immediately.

Wilson had already served 16 games of his suspension for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist in each team’s pre-season finale.

The ruling by Shyam Das allows Wilson, 24, to recoup $378,049 of the $1.26 million he initially forfeited as part of the suspension.

The 20-game ban handed down by the NHL’s department of player safety came after Wilson was suspended three previous times in 13 months.

Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld Wilson’s suspension on appeal before it went to Das, the same arbitrator who earlier this season reduced Nashville forward Austin Watson’s domestic violence suspension to 18 games from 27.

Since September 2017, Wilson had been suspended two preseason games for interference against the Blues’ Robert Thomas, four games for boarding the Blues’ Sammy Blais and three playoff games for an illegal check to the head of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Zachary Aston-Reese.

Das wrote in his 42-page opinion he agreed with the league that Wilson violated Rule 48 with an illegal check to the head and was not persuaded by the players association’s arguments that included a suggested eight-game suspension.

Das also wrote: “The length of the 20-game suspension imposed was not supported by substantial evidence” and decided on 14 by treating the three-game playoff suspension as six, doubling it given Wilson’s recent history and adding two games for Sundqvist’s concussion and shoulder injury.

“The league did what they thought was appropriate,” AstonReese said recently when asked about Wilson’s latest suspension. “When the league comes down like that, you’ve always got to rethink your game. I’m sure he’s just doing what he thinks is best for him.”