Tom Wilson should be suspended long term after inexcusable preseason headshot

The NHL regular season hasn’t even started yet, and Tom Wilson has revealed that he still has no self control when it comes to completely unnecessary hits.

Another day, another conversation about a Tom Wilson hit. Not even the preseason is safe from his antics, and the Capitals better be absolutely sick of it by now.

Tom Wilson landed an absolutely horrible and unnecessary hit on St.Louis Blues forward Oscar Sundqvist in the final preseason game for the year for the Capitals. As Sundqvist cut across the middle of the ice, Wilson barreled in to crush him with a hit from behind to the head at full speed as he came back into the defensive zone.

Wilson received a match penalty for the hit, and that means that he’ll get an automatic review from the Player Safety department. Sundqvist was knocked out, bloody, and needed help getting back to the locker room.

What could Wilson possibly be thinking here? In what universe is it a good idea to lay somebody out in the preseason when they have no idea that a hit is coming? Why are you even trying crush anybody in a preseason game? Especially the last one before the season starts? This hit is never ok for any player in the league, but this is beyond idiotic for a player who is being relied on to play top six minutes for the Capitals all season.

It’s not a question of if Wilson will face discipline for this unacceptable hit, it’s a matter of how many games he’ll be suspended. I can tell you one thing, Wilson is out of warnings, and the NHL is not going to give him any benefit of the doubt here at all. This checks every single box. Head contact? Check. Could it have been avoided? Absolutely. Repeat offender? You bet. I think a five game suspension is the absolute lowest the NHL is willing to go here. Ten games sounds much more reasonable for something like this, maybe even more.

When is Tom Wilson going to learn? He signed six year contract this offseason worth $31 million, with a cap hit of $5.17M, meaning the Capitals are banking on him big time to knock this garbage off to stay in the lineup and keep producing like a top six forward like he proved he could last season.

This better be the last time Wilson is getting suspended for a long time because this needs to end now. Wilson is not some throwaway fourth liner that you can replace easily, he is the Capitals first line right winger that is supposed to play alongside Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. There is no need for that kind hit at any point during the season, whether it be preseason, regular season, or postseason. It’s time for Wilson to grow up and learn before the NHL decides that they have had enough his trash.