Chill out, Twitter, Capitals re-signing Tom Wilson makes sense

Tom Wilson re-signing with the Washington Capitals for six years and $5 million made everyone extremely mad, because that’s what he’s best at.

That the Washington Capitals are defending Stanley Cup champions is already hard to fathom. That Tom Wilson played a big role in their Cup victory is even harder to believe. And yet he did. Even though his career high in points is 35, he scored at a 0.7 points-per-game pace in the playoffs. He still got up to his usual antics, laying out a questionable hit on Zach Aston-Reese and getting suspended for three games, but his excellent penalty killing and his propensity to drive opponents crazy was a difference-maker.

This isn’t a defense of Wilson’s extension, which he just signed for six years and $5.17 million per season. For the type of player that he is, that’s too much money. Yes, he’s 24 and has room to grow, but he came off a 35-point season and he can thank Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov plus a high shooting percentage for that.

Rather, this is a mediation of the insane overreaction that has come out of this deal. Because if there’s anything that Wilson excels at, it’s getting people to overreact:

Considering the role he played in last year’s playoffs, he’s not going to get bought out like many people seem to believe. If he was signing this contract at age 30, it would be a different story. And with the salary cap rising, we might soon see $5 million deals get handed out like candy.

Plus, he seems genuinely happy. Can we at least give him that?

While the rest of the league is losing their collective mind over this deal, Capitals fans are still basking in the glory of their Stanley Cup win. And who knows? Maybe this will motivate Wilson to live up to his contract and prove that last season wasn’t an outlier.