Not many players selected near the bottom of the NHL Draft go on to become Stanley Cup winners. Wilson is one of the few who has.
The forward was the 209th of the 211 players taken in the 2011 NHL Draft. But after three seasons at UMass-Lowell, he signed with the Penguins in April 2014 and began working his way toward the NHL.
Not many players selected near the bottom of the NHL Draft go on to become Stanley Cup winners. Wilson is one of the few who has.
The forward was the 209th of the 211 players taken in the 2011 NHL Draft. But after three seasons at UMass-Lowell, he signed with the Penguins in April 2014 and began working his way toward the NHL.
Wilson had 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 55 games with Wilkes/Barre Scranton of the American Hockey League in 2014-15, and played one NHL game that season, going scoreless in his League debut Dec. 2, 2014, against the New Jersey Devils. He had 36 points (22 goals, 14 assists) in 34 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2015-16, as well as six points (five goals, one assist) in 24 games with the Penguins, but did not play during Pittsburgh's run to the Stanley Cup because of an ankle injury and didn't get his name on the trophy.
That changed in 2016-17. After Wilson finished with 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) and 167 hits in 78 regular-season games, his physicality helped earn him a place on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel during Pittsburgh's second straight championship run. He had six points (three goals, three assists) in 20 playoff games, but was second on the Penguins with 66 hits and provided the kind of physical play that left Malkin and Kessel to generate offense. Wilson's reward was seeing his name added to some of hockey's greats on the most famous trophy in sports.
