Wilson Returns

Nine years into his NHL career, Caps right wing Tom Wilson had been a model of durability, missing a grand total of 19 regular season games because of injury. But after suffering a torn ACL in Game 1 of Washington's opening round playoff series with Florida last May, Wilson underwent surgery to repair the torn ligament.

The lengthy rehab process kept Wilson on the sidelines for the first 42 games of the 2022-23 season, but big No. 43 is ready to return to the Washington lineup on Sunday against Columbus. Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom will both be playing their first game of the season today against the Blue Jackets. Backstrom was sidelined after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery.
Prior to this season, Wilson's longest single absence from the Washington lineup because of injury was at the outset of the 2014-15 season when he suffered a fibula injury in the offseason. He missed the first five games of the season because of the injury, and then missed three more while on a conditioning stint at AHL Hershey. He also missed the first 14 games of the 2018-19 season because of an NHL suspension, but this season's absence is three times as long.

"Taking myself back to when the injury happened," says Wilson, "I think that was probably the toughest part to be honest, just the magnitude of the injury and the uncertainty of what the next half year was going to look like. I was going through a bit of a test-it-out phase to see if I could possibly play [in the 2022 playoffs], and it just was bad news after bad news. And it's a weird feeling when you go to test your body and there's no there's no response or stability there.
"Once I started the recovery process, it was getting very micro focused day to day, and in the grind. And once I had more of a clearer future and clarity for the process, it helped me a lot and I could just get back to work and try and focus on getting back to playing hockey and getting back to help the team. And that wasn't a linear process; it wasn't just all straight lines. There's ups and downs like any injury, but I've been pretty fortunate with the team helping me out and getting me where I need to be, and I just want to make sure I'm full speed by the time I get back."

When Wilson missed the beginning of the 2014-15 season, he was a sophomore NHL player who was averaging just under 11 minutes a night and skating the right side of Washington's fourth line. In the years since, he gradually carved out a larger role with more responsibility and more ice time, and he eventually became an important piece of both Washington special teams, too.
Wilson debuted in the NHL in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and is the rarest of NHLers in that he played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before even suiting up for an NHL exhibition game. He evolved from one of the League's best and most feared fighters to one of its best power forwards. Last season, his totals of 24 goals, 28 assists and 52 points all represented career highs, and his total of 98 penalty minutes in 78 games was his lowest on a PIM/games played basis.
Eight months after his injury, Wilson is finally ready to roll once again, and ready to contribute to the cause as the Caps take aim at a ninth straight berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The last time they missed out was Wilson's rookie season.
"First of all, when you're watching just as a teammate," he says, "it's a whole new perspective that you get for your teammates of the grind that they're going through, and how proud you are as a teammate when you're when you're watching. Every guy steps up and plays different roles and adapts to injuries, no matter who it is. And you're proud as a teammate when guys are playing well and you can see the team coming together here.
"And it's a long season, so any little thing you can bring on a day-to-day basis - energy, positive mindset - when you're out of the grind and guys are coming back from road trips and stuff, you're just trying to help guys out, be a friend, be a teammate. And when I get back in, it's going to be the same mindset, just help the team any way I can and just bring that fresh mind, fresh body mindset to the group and try and keep winning games."

Physicality is and always will be a component of Wilson's game, but he had only six fighting majors in his 78 games last season. His game has grown to the point where he is far too valuable to the Caps to be sitting in the box for five minutes at a time, let alone two minutes.
Wilson averaged 7:56 per night in ice time as an NHL rookie in 2013-14, with virtually all of that time coming at even strength. Last season, he was one of only 18 NHL forwards who amassed 195 or more minutes or power play time and 125 or more minutes of shorthanded ice time. His return to live action also adds a much-needed right-handed shot into Washington's lineup.

Ten years into his NHL career, Wilson is ready to come back from the first serious injury he has sustained on the ice in his career, which already spans 647 regular season games at the age of 28.
"I think my expectation is that I have to be where I was before," says Wilson. "That's the only acceptable outcome. I want to be the player that I was before. This whole process, I've had that in mind and that's been my goal. Maybe I could have been back possibly a month ago, but I wouldn't have been the player that I wanted to be, and I wouldn't have been the player that I was last year.
"This whole process has been designed with our support team and our medical staff and surgeon and everything, and designed to make sure than when I'm back I'm the player I want to be. Obviously, it's going to be a couple of games to get my feet under me, but I'm just going to come back and do whatever I can to chip in and help the team keep moving forward and push toward the playoffs."

The Caps are getting two top six forwards back into their lineup with just under two months between now and the NHL's trade deadline. As those two key components draw back into the lineup, they'll join a group that's in the thick of a playoff chase in the Eastern Conference, thanks to a 15-4-3 mark in their last 22 games.
"The jolt that Tom gives us is very different," says Caps' right wing T.J. Oshie. "It's very different playing-wise than the jolt that Nick will give us. Nick will give us a certain calmness in the locker room and on the bench. He'll give us more puck decisions. He's a good 200-foot centerman, a guy that's just crazy elite in every aspect of his game.
"Tom is going to give us energy, he's going to give us hits, he's going to protect some guys, and step up when he has to. He's going to score big goals. He's going to play huge minutes. And I think for Tom, we all knew Tom was going to come back and he was going to be strong, because he's always strong. He works hard, and he's a guy that gets in the gym and doesn't stop until he does everything that he has to do.
"But I think this was maybe a little more of a mental thing for Tom because he is such a rah-rah guy. He is a guy that gets out and he does active things, and he is in the gym quite a bit. So for him, it'll be nice mentally for him to be able to turn on that switch - his competitiveness switch - that I think he has been missing for a while. I know when I've been out for long periods for injuries, you miss that competitiveness thing. When you don't get to turn that thing on after a while, you start going a little stir crazy. So it'll be nice to see 43 out there buzzing, hitting and running around, and really making momentum-changing plays for us."