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Tom Wilson, Jonathan Marchessault Added To All-Star Rosters

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The NHL has been forced to make another few changes to the All-Star rosters after recent injuries and COVID results. Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson will be replacing teammate Alex Ovechkin, who tested positive for coronavirus today and will miss the event. Ovechkin, who was supposed to serve as captain of the Metropolitan Division, will pass the “C” to Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers.

It will be Wilson’s first All-Star experience and it comes during the best season of his career. The 27-year-old forward has 13 goals and 31 points in 42 games, a pace that would see him shatter his previous career-high of 44 points in short order. A player who scored just nine goals during his draft year and was selected because of the raw size, aggression, and skating ability he showed, Wilson has developed into a premier power forward in the NHL and looks poised to crack the 20-goal mark for the third time.

On the Pacific Division side, Jonathan Marchessault has been added, though the league did not immediately reveal who he would be replacing. The 31-year-old Vegas Golden Knights forward will also be at the event for the first time, despite several outstanding seasons since he arrived in Sin City. Marchessault has 20 goals and 32 points in 41 games, only trailing Chandler Stephenson for the team lead in overall scoring. One of the original misfits, he’ll get to take the ice at home during the event in Las Vegas this weekend.

Things kick off on Friday night with the NHL All-Star Skills, before a three-game, 3-on-3 tournament Saturday.

Injury Notes: Wilson, Stone, Boyle

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According to The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell, the Washington Capitals placed right wing Tom Wilson on injured reserve, although the move is retroactive to December 10. He hasn’t played the last week as he deals with an upper-body injury. Due to the retroactive nature of the move, he can be activated at any time. The team needed to free up roster space for Garnet Hathaway, though, who came off COVID protocol today, and moving Wilson to injured reserve accomplished that. Wilson’s day-to-day status hasn’t changed. He has nine goals and 15 assists in 27 games this season, on pace for a career-high in points.

More injury notes from around the league:

  • Many Vegas Golden Knights fans were concerned when captain Mark Stone missed today’s game with an upper-body injury due to his lengthy absence earlier in the season. However, head coach Peter DeBoer said after the game today that he doesn’t expect Stone to be out long-term. That’s great news for a Vegas team that’s finally getting on a roll after a nightmarish season in terms of health. The team now sits atop the Pacific Division, the place many expected them to be before an injury bug bit the team hard. The captain’s been red-hot recently, scoring four goals and 17 assists in 18 games.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins forward Brian Boyle is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and won’t play tonight against the New Jersey Devils, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed. Pittsburgh somewhat unexpectedly added Boyle, who didn’t play at all in 2020-21, to the roster prior to training camp with injuries to both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin limiting them down the middle. Boyle’s gotten into 19 of Pittsburgh’s 29 games, scoring three goals and providing a good defensive game.

 

New York Rangers Issue Statement On Tom Wilson Situation

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The New York Rangers were not pleased with the decision from the Department of Player Safety this morning. The league decided not to suspend Tom Wilson after the incident in last night’s game, and the Rangers have released a statement in response:

The New York Rangers are extremely disappointed that Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his horrifying act of violence last night at Madison Square Garden. Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these type of acts and we find it shocking that the NHL and their Department of Player Safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely. Wilson’s dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL head of player safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role. 

Parros has been with the DoPS since 2016 and took over as head of it in 2017. He has been routinely criticized for an inconsistent approach, but this is the first time a team has publicly called for his dismissal.

Wilson, who was suspended earlier this season for seven games, was given a $5,000 fine for roughing Rangers’ forward Pavel Buchnevich. The league has still not released any information or decision about the rest of the incident, which resulted in Panarin’s injury. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported that the league saw everything after the Bunchnevich punch as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”

The Rangers announced this morning that Panarin would not play again this season after suffering a lower-body injury in the melee. The team has three games remaining and will finish their regular season schedule on Saturday. Tomorrow night, the Rangers and Capitals are set to face off again.

Tom Wilson Receives Fine For Roughing

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The Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the CBA, to Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson for roughing New York Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich last night. The incident of course included much more than just the interaction between Wilson and Buchnevich. The Capitals forward earned two minor roughing penalties and a ten-minute misconduct during the game, but unless there is more supplementary discipline to come, appears to have avoided suspension.

The part of the interaction that caused most of the outrage, slamming Artemi Panarin into the ice, was not addressed by the league at all. Emily Kaplan of ESPN tweets that the DoPS saw everything after the punch on Buchnevich as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”

Of course, Wilson’s actions are usually scrutinized more than the average player, and for good reason. He has been suspended several times in his career, including earlier this season when he received seven games for his hit on Brandon Carlo. In the explanation of that event, the league deemed it as:

…a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a defenseless position, and doing so with significant force.

The two teams will play again tomorrow night.

Tom Wilson Suspended Seven Games

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Sunday: TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Wilson has elected to serve his seven-game suspension and will not appeal it.

Saturday: The Department of Player Safety has come down hard on Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson, suspending him seven games for his hit on Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo. As the accompanying video explains:

On this play, the combination of Carlo’s battle with [Jakub] Vrana, his head being low as he looks for the puck, and Wilson’s angle of approach, combine to leave Carlo in a position where he is defenseless. Through no fault of his own, he is in a position where he is unable to brace for contact, anticipate the hit, or protect himself in any way from Wilson, who is approaching from outside his field of vision. 

The league admits that hits like the one Wilson threw happen frequently, but still believes the totality of the situation—including substantial contact with the head—elevates it to supplementary discipline. The NHL also obviously took into account Wilson’s history with the Department of Player Safety. In the video, they explain:

This is a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a defenseless position, and doing so with significant force.

Wilson has been suspended four times and fined twice in the past, leading to the seven-game ban. Carlo also suffered an injury on the play, which is also taken into account in these situations.

Obviously, in a shortened schedule, suspensions have even more impact on a team. Wilson will miss an eighth of the entire schedule with this new penalty and forfeits more than $300K in salary.

Central Notes: Zuccarello, Parise, Byfuglien, Rantanen, Landeskog

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The Dallas Stars continue to hang onto the top wildcard playoff spot and continue to attempt to fend off several teams trying to steal away their spot. The Stars may get a much-needed boost soon as veteran Mats Zuccarello, who appeared in just one game with Dallas after they acquired him from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline, is making progress and could return to the team soon.

Zuccarello, who scored a goal an assist in his first game in Dallas before breaking his arm while blocking a shot on Feb. 24, participated in Dallas’ pre-game skate, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski. His four-week recovery estimate is almost up and the team hopes that he could be ready soon.

“It increases every day,” Zuccarello said of the stickhandling. “Maybe a week, just started light and now I can shoot a little bit more, but it still hurts a little bit.”

The 31-year-old Zuccarello has 12 goals and 39 points so far this year, but the Stars need his experience on their struggling second line, especially if they want to remain in the playoff position they are currently in.

  • The Minnesota Wild announced that the team will be without forward Zach Parise Saturday, who suffered an undisclosed injury Friday after colliding with Washington Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson. Parise, however, remained in the game and assisted on the team’s game-winning goal. The 34-year-old Parise is having a big season with 26 goals and 59 points in 73 games and has only missed two games this year up until now. It’s Parise’s biggest season since 2014-15. The team will replace Parise in the lineup with Pontus Aberg.
  •  The Winnipeg Jets are close to getting back a pair of key defensemen as both Dustin Byfuglien and Josh Morrissey each skated prior to the team’s morning skate Saturday, suggesting they could return soon, according to Mitchell Clinton of NHL.com. Byfuglien, who has been out since Feb. 14 with a lower-body injury, while Morrissey has been out since Feb. 24 with an upper-body injury. Head coach Paul Maurice said that Byfuglien has actually been skating on his own since Wednesday. “The way this works now is he skates, if he feels good the next day, he’ll start thinking about morning skates going forward,” said Maurice. “Then start building toward contact.”
  • The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers reports that the team will be without star forward Mikko Rantanen again on Sunday at Chicago after missing his first game of the season against the Blackhawks at home on Saturday with a midsection injury. The 22-year-old was hurt in Thursday’s game against Dallas when he was checked into the boards along the team benches. He remains day-to-day.
  • One a more positive note, BSN’s Adrian Dater reports there’s a chance, albeit a small chance, that injured forward Gabriel Landeskog, who was listed as being out four to six weeks with an upper-body injury back on Mar. 8, could return a bit early. That would be welcome news for a Colorado team that looked to be sliding out of the playoffs, but have had a recent resurgence that has brought them back into the playoff race. Landeskog is having a breakout year with 33 goals and 69 points.

Jamie Oleksiak Out Indefinitely With Concussion

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The Pittsburgh Penguins confirmed today what was readily apparent last night: Jamie Oleksiak has suffered a concussion. The team announced that Oleksiak will be out indefinitely while also activating Dominik Simon from injured reserve.

Oleksiak sustained the injury when he was knocked to the ice by a hard punch from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson and needed assistance to get to the bench. The fight occurred less than a minute into what would turn into a feisty game, and will cost Oleksiak at least a little time as he recovers. The Penguins will have to find someone else to take on the 16 minutes that Oleksiak averaged with the Penguins this season.

Turning 26 tomorrow, Oleksiak seems to have turned a corner in his NHL career and is finally starting to show the kind of potential that made him the 14th overall selection in 2011. The 6’7″ defenseman never could establish himself with the Dallas Stars, but has 25 points in 79 games since coming to Pittsburgh and was off to the best start of his career this season. Though he doesn’t carry any powerplay or regular penalty kill responsibility, Oleksiak did provide the Penguins with a big, physical presence to balance out some of their smaller skilled defensemen. That will now be lacking while he recovers, a period which is completely up in the air at this point.

Metropolitan Notes: Neuvirth, Oshie, Wilson, Murray

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While Blues goaltender Chad Johnson hit the waiver wire today, another veteran netminder could soon join him.  Dave Isaac of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post suggests that Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth could be waived once Brian Elliott returns from his groin injury which would pave the way for Anthony Stolarz to remain with the team.

Neuvirth has had a disastrous season thus far.  He has missed most of it with multiple lower-body injuries and he has not fared well in his two appearances.  Isaac notes that now-former GM Ron Hextall tried to trade the 30-year-old this summer but to no avail.  Considering his start to the season, there isn’t likely to be any sort of market for Neuvirth’s services nor would it be ideal to keep him up so being waived appears to be a likely outcome at this point.

Elsewhere around the Metropolitan:

  • Capitals winger T.J. Oshie participated in practice today and could receive the green light to return from his concussion on Tuesday, reports J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). He has missed the last 11 games but a decision on his availability likely won’t be decided until closer to game time tomorrow as the team wants to assess how he feels on Tuesday first.  His return would be a welcome one with the team currently without winger Tom Wilson (concussion); NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti notes (via Twitter) that the team hopes he can resume skating later this week.
  • Penguins goalie Matt Murray is making significant progress in his recovery from his lower-body injury, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The team would like to get him some practice time but with the team playing eight times over the next two weeks, they’re only slated to practice once in that span.  In the meantime, Casey DeSmith will remain as the number one starter in his absence and has fared quite well in that role thus far.

Tom Wilson, Jordan Staal Dealing With Concussions

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The Washington Capitals will be without one of their key forwards again tonight, but not for the usual reason. After missing 16 games earlier this season to suspension and being given a match penalty in another, Tom Wilson will instead miss tonight’s game against the Arizona Coyotes with a concussion. Wilson suffered the injury in Tuesday’s game against the Golden Knights when he was hit hard by Ryan Reaves, and is “day-to-day” according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post, who spoke to head coach Todd Reirden earlier today.

When taking into account Wilson’s physical, sometimes reckless style, he has been extraordinarily healthy throughout his NHL career. He has played all 82 games in three of his five NHL seasons, and only missed that mark last year due to the four-game suspension he had to start the year. That durability has been a calling card of his, and allowed the Capitals to rely on him nightly to establish a physical presence for their team. It likely helped earn him a spot next to some of the team’s best players, and also factored into his big contract extension.

Unfortunately, this injury for Wilson comes during the most productive stretch of his career. Since returning from suspension after a neutral arbitrator reduced it to 14 games—Wilson had already served 16—the power forward recorded eight goals and 14 points in 11 games for the Capitals. His success from the 2017-18 playoffs had seemed to continue, and opponents no longer just had to keep their heads up when he was on the ice. Now, a concussion puts some uncertainty in his season as his style could very well lead to more injuries down the road if the team is not careful. Reaves was obviously targeting Wilson as a physical challenge, forcefully checking him multiple times in the game and confronting him on the ice. That kind of treatment isn’t going to stop after the reputation that Wilson has built for himself.

Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes have their own concussed forward in Jordan Staal, who will miss the team’s next game according to team broadcaster Mike Maniscalco. The Hurricanes have called up Saku Maenalanen to replace Staal, who suffered the injury last night against the San Jose Sharks. This will be Maenalanen’s NHL debut should he get into the lineup against the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night.

This is just the latest in what must be a frustrating season for Staal so far, as the veteran forward has been stymied on offense as well. With just 11 points in 27 games, the 30-year old hasn’t been able to help the Hurricanes get to that next level and start competing in the Metropolitan Division. With him out, the team will have to look elsewhere for help down the middle, and assign another center to the tough defensive matchups.

Tom Wilson’s Suspension Reduced To 14 Games

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The neutral arbitrator has ruled, and Tom Wilson’s 20-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist has been reduced to 14. The Washington Capitals forward is now immediately eligible to return to the lineup, given he has already missed 16 games this season. The reduction will however save Wilson nearly $400K in salary, compared to what he would have had to forfeit for the entire 20-game ban.

The arbitrator in this case was Shyam Das, the same that had reduced Austin Watson’s suspension for domestic violence earlier this year, and had previously been fired from the MLB for his reversal of Ryan Braun’s suspension. Das provided a 41-page decision, which concluded that the manner in which the NHL’s Department of Player Safety arrived at the 20-game mark was incorrect. Instead, Das provided evidence on how he arrived at 14 games:

…I find that the League’s decision that Wilson violated Rule 48 was supported by substantial evidence, but that the length of the 20-game suspension imposed was not supported by substantial evidence. As remedy, consistent with my findings, I conclude that Wilson’s suspension should be reduced to 14 games. I have arrived at this length by treating his most recent prior 3 playoff game suspension as the equivalent of 6 regular season games, as [George] Parros did, doubling that based on all relevant circumstances to 12 games–which certainly constitutes more severe punishment consistent with the CBA–and adding 2 games, as Parros did, based on the injury to Sundqvist.

Wilson will now have the eyes of the DoPS on him every time he steps on the ice, given the incredible frequency he’s served suspensions over the last few seasons. Every physical confrontation will put him at risk, as even slight contact with the head could result in a lengthy suspension. That’s a tough spot to be in for a player who relies so heavily on his physical play to contribute on the ice, meaning he may have to adjust his play style to continue his effectiveness. Unfortunately, that physical play has been Wilson’s calling card for his entire hockey career. It earned him a first-round selection in 2012 despite his pedestrian point totals in junior, and it delivered a six-year $31MM contract this summer when he became a restricted free agent.

This reduction is obviously a good outcome for Wilson, but the Capitals surely would have liked it to come a bit sooner. The team is struggling to repeat on their excellent 2017-18 season and now find themselves sitting near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings. That may not last for long, but after losing their last two games they now sit at just 7-6-3 on the season. They’ll hope a return of one of the 2018 playoff heroes will put them back on a path for the playoffs.

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