Tom Wilson is, without a doubt, the NHL’s most divisive player. Washington Capitals fans, rightly, love Wilson’s pestering style of hockey while also contributing offensively in the team’s top six.
The rest of the NHL, on the other hand, despise Wilson’s dirty play and cheap shots, all while the league does nothing to curb his dangerous hitting habits. In his eight-year NHL career — spanning 569 games before the start of the 2021-22 season — Wilson has 221 points and an astounding 1,123 penalty minutes.
Yes, Wilson nearly has double the amount of penalty minutes as games played in the NHL.
With a total of five suspensions, a handful of fines, and countless dustups across the league, Wilson has been a busy player since entering the NHL in the 2013-14 season. Here is every major discipline that has been handed down to Wilson, alongside his other most notorious moments, in his NHL career to date.
December 17, 2013: Wilson blindsides Brayden Schenn, no suspension
Wilson’s first major incident came in December 2013 after blindsiding Brayden Schenn of the Philadelphia Flyers with a hit against the boards. There was no suspension or fine for this play and Schenn was listed as day-to-day for the Flyers as a result.
March 19, 2015: Wilson embellishes Zach Parise hit, $2,000 fine
Wilson racked up his first NHL fine of $2,000 for embellishing this punch to the face from Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise. He also received a minor penalty for embellishment for his troubles on the play.
April 21, 2015: Wilson runs over Lubomir Visnovsky in playoffs, no suspension
Lubomir Visnovsky never returned to this playoff series for the New York Islanders after taking this Wilson check to the head. Wilson received a four-minute charging minor but no other supplemental discipline.
December 16, 2015: Wilson elbows Curtis Lazar, match penalty and one-game suspension
Eventually, the NHL reversed the one-game suspension Wilson received from this elbow to the head of Curtis Lazar, but he was tossed from the game regardless. However, the NHL never explained why Wilson’s suspension was reversed and since the match penalty has been removed from Wilson’s record.
April 28, 2016: Wilson hits Conor Sheary knee-on-knee, $2,900 fine
In the 2016 playoffs, Wilson collided with Conor Sheary knee-on-knee in an incident that wasn’t penalized at the time, but was given a $2,900 fine, the maximum allowed by the NHL’s CBA.
December 31, 2016: Wilson crunches John Moore against boards, no suspension
John Moore had to be stretchered off the ice after this hit from Wilson, which received no supplementary discipline. Moore missed a total of 17 games for the New Jersey Devils thanks to a concussion from this incident.
September 23, 2017: Wilson steps into Robert Thomas, two-game suspension in preseason
Technically, this is Wilson’s first suspension that counts by the letter of the law in the NHL. Wilson got an elbow up on Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues in 2017 and was suspended just two preseason games for the incident.
October 1, 2017: Wilson boards Sammy Blais, four-game suspension
Just eight days after the Thomas hit, Wilson was suspended yet again after boarding Sammy Blais of the Blues in an exhibition game. This time, the NHL cracked down on Wilson by suspending him for the first four games of the season, where he forfeited $97,560.96 in game salary.
April 12, 2018: Wilson decks Alexander Wennberg, no suspension
This is the first of four incidents Wilson was under the microscope for in the 2018 playoffs. Here, Wilson laid out on Alexander Wennberg in Game 1 of the first round against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wilson didn’t receive a hearing and though the Department of Player Safety looked at it, they couldn’t determine if the head was the primary point of contact.
April 29, 2018: Wilson dings Brian Dumoulin with elbow, no suspension
In the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Wilson went high with an elbow on Brian Dumoulin while trying to avoid a collision with teammate Alex Ovechkin. No hearing or suspension here.
May 1, 2018: Wilson goes in on Zach-Aston Reese, three-game suspension
One game after the Dumoulin incident, Wilson got in hot water once again after tagging Zach Aston-Reese up high. Aston-Reese came away from the hit with a broken jaw and a concussion, while Wilson was finally handed a three-game suspension for his antics.
May 28, 2018: Wilson lays out Jonathan Marchessault with late hit, no suspension
In Game 1 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, Wilson blindsided Jonathan Marchessault with a late hit well after the puck was gone. Wilson, however, received no supplementary discipline for the play.
September 30, 2018: Wilson nails Oskar Sundqvist, match penalty and 20-game suspension
This is the big one. Wilson rocked Oskar Sundqvist with a Matt Cooke-esque hit, going high again on a player who wasn’t expecting to get drilled. Sundqvist ended up with a concussion and a shoulder injury while the NHL laid down the hammer on Wilson with a 20-game suspension — reduced to 14 by an arbitrator — to start the 2018-19 season.
November 30, 2018: Wilson drills Brett Seney, match penalty and no suspension
It didn’t take long for Wilson to get in trouble again after his lengthy suspension. In this one, Wilson took out Brett Seney with a hit from behind, which resulted in a match penalty and an ejection. No supplemental discipline here.
March 5, 2021: Wilson crunches Brandon Carlo, seven-game suspension
After a quiet couple of years, Wilson’s antics surfaced again in the spring of 2021. Brandon Carlo got rocked up high by Wilson with this rough hit, which earned him a seven-game suspension and sent his opponent to the hospital.
May 3, 2021: Wilson's antics against Pavel Buchnevich, Artemi Panarin spark scrum, $5,000 fine
Things finally hit a breaking point with Wilson during this Rangers game. Wilson ignited this scrum by punching Pavel Buchnevich while he was down, then slammed Artemi Panarin to the ice.
The fallout? A measly $5,000 fine and more extracurriculars in the ensuing game between the Rangers and Capitals. All of this lead to New York firing its president and general manager after the team posted a scathing rebuttal to the Department of Player Safety’s meek response.
