Toronto Maple Leafs: A Case For Inquiring About Tom Wilson

Generally speaking, the enforcer as it’s known is a dead breed – which is why Colton Orr is no longer with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have welcomed analytics into their front office and the numbers show there is zero value in playing a player simply because they can pound on the opposition.

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The way the game is played today doesn’t require the use of a player for the sole purpose of playing 4-6 minutes a night looking for a scrap. I love hockey fights – and I have a soft spot for enforcer’s dating back to the days of Dennis Bonvie with the Cape Breton Oilers – but the one-dimensional tough guy is a useless mold.

That doesn’t mean that the tough guy is a breed that has to disappear – he just has to be able to avoid negatively impacting his team while he’s on the ice.

I don’t believe for a second that a goon deters anything anymore with how the rules – namely the instigator – are laid out. I do, however, believe that it’s a nice option to have a player that can stand up for the talent on the roster – but they have to actually be able to play the game of hockey.

Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals had 12 fighting majors in 2014-2015 (6th overall) and 14 in 2013-2014 (5th overall). During the 2014-2015 season he didn’t hinder the play of the Capitals while he was on the ice. Now, Wilson’s 2013-2014 season was quite the opposite but he was deployed in much more favorable scenarios under new head coach Barry Trotz this year which contributed to the increase in almost everything.

Here’s a look at the fighter’s (forwards) who racked up at least 10 fighting majors in 2014-2015, comparing their relSCF%. relCF% and relGF%.

It’s worth noting that while Wilson sits second worst in the group for goals for percentage relative to the team, he’s second in regular goals for percentage at nearly 49%.

It’s also worth noting that all of those fighter’s played at least 67 games, so there are no 20 game fighter samples in here to muddy things up.

Of that group of players, only one player had a positive penalty differential at 5v5 – Tom Wilson. Not bad for a player who finished fourth in the NHL in PIM’s this year with 172.

By all accounts Tom Wilson’s season was as good as you could hope for from a guy that’s as close to a goon as it gets these days.

In his Impact On Linemates image from OwnThePuck.blogspot.com, he’s in a fine location for a fourth line player with no offensive expectations.

I’ll take anything on the bottom half of that chart for a fourth liner. As long as the player provides competent play I’m fine with letting lines one to three do the scoring.

One argument that could be made about his possession (52.5% CF%) this year was that he played a significant portion of his 5v5 time with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (45% 5v5 TOI). But it’s not much of an argument because Wilson was at 51% without Backstrom and Ovechkin.

There’s nothing about Tom Wilson’s 2014-2015 season that screams ‘stay away from me’ like it usually does for tough guys.

What people don’t like about tough guys is the fact that they can’t play the game of hockey very well and can’t function in this era. Tom Wilson showed last year that he can be the hybrid enforcer – a guy who can play knuckles when you need him to, but doesn’t hurt your hockey team.

For those who long for the tough guy’s return, the 6’4″, 210lb, Tom Wilson can satisfy that desire – and with the Toronto Maple Leafs getting younger, smaller and more skilled he might be a nice player to have around.

If Tom Wilson has another season like 2014-2015, he’d be worth inquiring about at the end of the year – not just because he fights, but because he’s a functional fourth line player that can be the new hybrid enforcer, satisfying both sides of the statistical fence.

To make the call, he’d have to prove last season wasn’t a one-off.

Next: Morgan Rielly: Bridge or Long-Term?

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