Capitals veteran forward Tom Wilson has been known for his aggressive, physical play on the ice, but right now he is looking like an early Hart Trophy candidate this season.
Wilson is off to a hot start by scoring five goals in Washington’s first four games of the 2024-25 season. In 2023-24, he did not score his fifth goal of the season until the Capitals’ 20th game on Nov. 30.
Last night vs. the New Jersey Devils, Wilson scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime. This marked his fourth career OT goal and his first since March 1, 2023 at Anaheim.
Wilson’s four-goal streak to start the season is tied with Alex Ovechkin, Mike Gartner, and Dennis Maruk as the longest season-opening goal streaks in Washington’s franchise history.
The veteran is currently tied for third in the NHL, trailing only Nikita Kucherov (7), Artemi Panarin, and Cole Caulfield (both 6). But he’s in pretty good company with Nico Hischier (who scored two vs. the Caps last night), Sam Reinhart, Jordan Eberle, Paul Cotter, Chris Kreider, and Dylan Guenther, who also have five tallies.
Wilson also has one assist and six points this season, as he is one of three Capitals — along with John Carlson and Dylan Strome — to have recorded points in the first four games of 2024-25. Per NHL PR, Washington has had three-plus players open the season with a simultaneous point streak of at least four games two other times in team history: 2009-10 (Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, and Brooks Laich) and 1991-92 (Randy Burridge, Dale Hunter, Calle Johansson, and Michal Pivonka).
One factor of Wilson’s early success is him playing on the same line as Connor McMichael (1g-3a-4p) and newest Cap Pierre-Luc Dubois (0g-2a-2p). This forward trio has accounted for 12 of Washington’s 41 points this season (29.3 percent).
Ovechkin, who has his own goal success, has a lot of praise for his teammate Wilson’s start to this year. “You can see he’s feeling it right now…hottest guy in the league,” Ovechkin said.
The Capitals are currently 3-1-0 to start the season, and if Wilson’s early success is any indication for the rest of the way, it’s that other teams are to be even more afraid of him, as if they weren’t already.
