They’re from two different provinces, they took two different paths to the NHL, they play two different positions. One has been a DC fixture for over a decade while the other has made himself prominent in these parts over the last year and a half. The competitive fires burn bright within both, and they play with heart and soul and a dedication to team above all, and that’s what makes Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson uniquely worthy of being named to the Canadian Olympic squad for the 2026 Olympic games in February.
Hours before today’s Metro Division matinee with the New York Rangers, the Wilson and Thompson received phone calls from Team Canada representation, informing them they’ve been named to the Team Canada Olympic roster.
Since last February’s Four Nations Tournament – in which both players were left off Canada’s roster – there has been plenty of speculation and discussion surrounding both Wilson and Thompson, but all that noise fades in the news of the day and the pride of representing one’s country on the world’s most visible and prestigious ice hockey stage, the Winter Olympics.
The 31-year-old Wilson is in his 13th NHL season, and he leads the Capitals with 19 goals, 37 points, seven power-play goals, 0.97 points per game and 101 hits. Wilson also leads all Washington forwards with an average of 19:38 in ice time per game, the highest single-season figure of his career.
After breaking into the NHL in 2013-14 as a teenager playing on the fourth line and logging just 7:56 per night while skating in all 82 games, Wilson gradually built his game into one that features so many desirable tools, elements and virtues, that he is seen as a hockey unicorn, the kind of player every team wants and desires to have on its roster, but one who is so rare that even pale imitations of him are hard to come by.
If you’re looking for a player who can score goals (52 of them since the start of last season), play on the power play, play on the penalty kill, bring physicality and be trusted to both lock down late leads and help spark late comebacks, there is no better option available, regardless of nationality.
Wilson is the only player in the entire NHL who since the start of last season has 50 or more goals, averages better than two and a half minutes on the power play and a minute and a half on the penalty kill per game, and who has accrued 100 or more penalty minutes.
Last season, he was the only player in the League with more than 30 goals and more than 200 hits.
Wilson just moved ahead of Dale Hunter (872) for seventh place on the Caps’ all-time games played list and his 198 goals are sixth most in franchise history. This season, he and Thompson – along with defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who is also worthy of inclusion on the Team Canada roster – have arguably been the Caps’ three best players through the first half of the season.
Last summer, Wilson had the honor of attending Team Canada’s orientation camp for the Olympic games, a significant indicator that he was on their radar.
“It was cool,” said Wilson in September. “It’s an impressive group of guys to say the least, so to be there is a huge privilege. It makes you want to put your head down and just work as hard as you can to put yourself in the conversation for making the Olympic team.
“Growing up, Hockey Canada Team Canada Olympics is the hardest team in the world to make. And I think it still is that way, so you’ve got to play well, you’ve got to play your game, and we’ll see what happens. But sitting in that room and looking around and getting to know some of the guys was awesome. It was an honor to be there and something that gets you excited.”
Wilson was not shy about his desire to reach the goal he has achieved today.
“It’s a goal, for sure,” he says. “I think if you asked most guys in that room at orientation, they want it more than anything in the world; they want to play for Team Canada at the Olympics and try and win a gold medal, When you’re a kid, it’s the Stanley Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal. That’s everything; that’s your biggest and wildest dreams. And to have an opportunity to be in the conversation at the very least is pretty special.
“That being said, you look around that room and every guy beside you wants it just as much as you do, and it’s the best players in the League. So you’ve got to step up and you’ve got to play your best hockey. I think I’ll just focus on the Caps, focus on what we’re doing here, and if we play well and I play well and help the team, the rest will hopefully take care of itself.”
Upon completing his junior hockey career with the WHL Brandon Wheat Kings in 2017-18, Thompson was unable to land a pro contract as an undrafted free agent. He enrolled at Canada’s Brock University, and after a stellar season there in 2018-19, he landed a one-year contract with AHL Hershey in the Washington system. Thompson spent the 2019-20 season with ECHL South Carolina, and that earned him an entry level deal with Vegas for the 2020-21 season.
With Vegas, Thompson was named winner of the AHL’s Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender in 2020-21, the season in which he also made his NHL debut, getting into one game. He split the following season between the AHL and the NHL and has been in the NHL continuously since.
Thompson played for Team Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Championship, helping the team to a silver medal finish in that tournament. In the 2022-23 NHL season, Thompson was an NHL All-Star, representing the Vegas Golden Knights.
Since coming to the Capitals in a June 29, 2024 trade with Vegas, Thompson has forged a 46-16-9 record in 71 appearances – 70 starts – with four shutouts, a .912 save pct. and a 2.42 GAA. He ranks fifth in the League over that span, and each of the four goaltenders in front of him has started in at least 11 more games than he has. Thompson ranks sixth in save pct. and fourth in GAA among goalies with at least 50 starts across that span.
This season, among goaltenders with 20 or more games played, Thompson ranks third in save pct. (.915), third in goals saved above expected (25.3) and fourth in GAA (2.33). As good as he was last season when he finished fourth in Vezina Trophy balloting, Thompson has improved on all of his qualitative metrics from last season to this.
Thompson has permitted two or fewer goals against in 18 of his 27 starts this season, and he has had five outings with 35 or more saves this season, tied for the most in the NHL.
Coming into this season, Thompson’s singular focus was on having a strong follow up to what had been his best NHL season to date.
“There’s lots to build off,” he said when training camp opened in September. “I don’t think I’ll go 22-2 until Christmas; I think that’s going to be pretty hard to duplicate. There’s a lot of positives to build, and obviously there’s a lot to learn from last year. That’s just what I did this summer, is reflected a lot, and just come here with a positive attitude and try and play as hard as I can, every time I get the chance.”
As was the case last season, Thompson has done all that and then some. Forging a second straight season of consistently strong starts while taking on a heavier workload during a season of a condensed schedule has sealed his spot as a Canadian Olympian.
“I just want to win games, get back to where we were last year, keep proving people wrong,” he said in September. “That’s my biggest mindset, I want to do my job and get as many wins for the Washington Capitals as I can, and be supportive of my teammates and be supportive of Chucky [Lindgren], and just be each other’s biggest fan.”
Today, the Caps and their fans are all proud of the work both Wilson and Thompson have done over their careers in the District, and we wish them all the best when the Olympic Games get underway in February.
