Wilson is back, and life for fans is a bit better
WASHINGTON — When the Tom Wilson-Taylor Pischke wedding turned from ceremony to dinner and finally to dancing, Wilson grabbed his supporting cast. Not his groomsmen or his father. Wilson reached for the brace for his left leg, still very much mid-recovery following surgery to repair a torn ACL. By that point, Wilson could walk just fine. But the dance floor at the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, Virginia, was about to get hopping. Safety became the priority.
“Obviously, some of the guys can get a little wild,” Wilson said. “It was a pretty fun party. I just wanted to make sure, if there was a spill or a slip or something, that I was protected.”
In his — get this — 10 seasons in Washington, that has been an enormous part of Wilson’s job: providing protection. As he eases his way back into the Capitals’ lineup — Thursday’s game at Arizona was his fifth since returning — the national storyline about his club is Alex Ovechkin’s relentless and methodical pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record. The local storyline is whether the Caps can use a three-game Western swing to put behind three losses in four games and tighten their grip on a playoff spot.
But it’s also a worthy time to recognize Wilson’s role with the Capitals, both now and — you would hope — years in the future. Someday, Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom will no longer play hockey here, because they will no longer play hockey at all.
And when those two franchise pillars inevitably retire — and key pieces such as T.J. Oshie and John Carlson follow suit — someone has to be left behind to teach whoever comes next how the Capitals became the Capitals, annual playoff participants and winners of a Stanley Cup. That person is Tom Wilson, at 28 years old, already a decade into his career that has him entrenched in Washington.
“My wife and I love it here,” Wilson said by phone Wednesday as he drove to the airport for the flight to Phoenix. “I’ve been here long enough that it definitely feels like home. When our friends and family come down here, they love it. They’re familiar with it. I’m pretty fortunate to play in one place as long as I have.”
He thought a minute.
“Honestly, I can’t really imagine playing anywhere else,” he said. “But it’s a business, and that stuff does happen.”
This is not a column meant to urge general manager Brian MacLellan and owner Ted Leonsis to start figuring out a new contract for Wilson. It’s too early for that because Wilson is signed through next season. (Psst. Mac and Ted. Start working on a new contract for Wilson.)
What it is: a plea to understand what the Capitals have in Wilson and what he could bring to future generations of Capitals. He is the rare — perhaps, in today’s NHL, unique — physical force who is skilled enough to play with the franchise’s generational players. Three months without him — not to mention almost the entirety of a playoff series loss to the Florida Panthers last spring — should serve as a worthy reminder of what life without Wilson is like for Washington. He is a presence on every shift and a major part of the Caps’ personality. Take him out of the lineup, and life, in short, is hard.
Take hockey away from Wilson, well, that’s not easy, either. Throughout the recovery, he was relentless in his positivity. “I had a great team around me, and all I had to do was what I was told,” he said, “so I didn’t get too down.” But the drives into Capital One Arena, past the fans wearing No. 43 jerseys — those were tough.
“You’re not playing; you’re not contributing to the city,” Wilson said. “That’s a big part of the reason that you play is for the fans and for the city. You feel like you’re not doing anything to help.”
The return came Jan. 8 against Columbus, a game in which Backstrom — the Caps’ all-time leader in assists — also returned from hip surgery. Ten seasons into a career, and on game day, muscle memory can take over, even after a lengthy absence.
“It was actually funny,” Wilson said. “There were times when I was standing on the blue line for the anthem, and your brain almost checks back in, like, ‘Hey, I’ve done this a million times before.’ I had to tell myself: ‘Hey, you’ve got to focus here. It’s going to be really fast. It’s going to be really hard.’ ...
“Then I got out there on the first shift. The puck’s flying around. Guys are flying around. That’s a lot of stimulation after having eight months off. I really had to tell myself that first game: ‘You really got to stay in it. It’s not just another game.’ “
Any Capitals game that includes Tom Wilson includes an irreplaceable ingredient. Any game he misses lacks the umami that makes the Caps who they are. That was true as the Capitals slogged through a sluggish start over the first month of the season. It was true even as they battled their way back into playoff position. It will be true the rest of this season as they try to advance in the playoffs for the first time since that Cup run in 2018. There are so many reasons, when he and Backstrom returned, the reception at Capital One Arena seemed like a hug from 18,573 family members.
With their accomplishments and their longevity, Ovechkin, the captain, and Backstrom, an “A” affixed on his sweater, are the assumed and unquestioned leaders.
But if his next contract gets done — sorry, when his next contract gets done — Wilson should be considered the captain-in-waiting.
He’s not lobbying for the job. When it’s time, he shouldn’t have to.
“They helped me so much when I was younger,” Wilson said of Ovechkin and Backstrom. “My job throughout my whole career has been to skate, be physical and create space for them — and to get them the puck. That’s not going to change over the next few years.”
Eventually, it will change, and Wilson will have a new role. He will be ready for it.
He is no longer a 19-year-old kid playing on the fourth line and looking to fight. He’s not here to step on toes or get in the way of his teammates who are securing their legacies but rather will help enhance them. He has always been here to protect and serve the Capitals.
When his time comes — and it will — he will be ready to lead them too.