The Washington Capitals signed Tom Wilson to a six-year contract, the team announced Friday night.
Wilson’s new deal is a lucrative one that will pay the forward an average of $5.17 million per season.
“Tom is an invaluable member of our team and we are pleased that he is committed to sign a long-term deal at this point in his career,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said in a press release. “Tom is a unique player in this league, in that he plays a physical game, leads by example and contributes in every facet of the game. At 24 years of age, he is just entering his prime and we believe that he will only continue to excel and improve as a player.”
In 78 regular-season appearances this past season, Wilson set new career highs with 14 goals, 21 assists, 123 shots on goal, 51 blocked shots and 15:59 in ice-time per game.
He also added another 15 points in 21 playoff games as the Capitals went on to win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.
The 24-year-old Toronto native is coming off a two-year bridge deal that had an annual salary cap hit of $2 million. According to CapFriendly, Wilson was given a modified no-trade clause in each of the final four years of his new contract.
Selected 16th overall by the Capitals in 2012, Wilson is known for his physicality and willingness to drop the gloves. In fact, no player has more regular-season penalty minutes than the 806 Wilson has accumulated since the 2013-14 campaign.
Wilson was the last of Washington’s restricted free agents that were in need of a new contract this year. Next year, forwards Andre Burakovsky, Jakub Vrana and Chandler Stephenson will be among the team’s RFAs.
July 27, 2018
Washington Capitals
