Tom Wilson showing he’s much more than a blunt instrument for Canada
The dot connecting between Canada and Tom Wilson started exactly one year ago, when a festival of fisticuffs launched the 4 Nations Face-Off into immortality. Team USA’s Matthew and Brady Tkachuk executed a pre-meditated plan, dropping the gloves to open their round-robin matchup with Canada, and they selected opponents significantly smaller than them in Brandon Hagel and Sam Bennett, respectively, with J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko finishing off the three bouts in nine seconds. After that game, which the Americans won, the chatter centered around whether Canada should arm itself with Wilson a year later at the Milan Olympics.
Such a reactionary take wasn’t surprising. Wilson is the most physically punishing forward of his generation, hammering opponents nightly with every last ounce of his 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame, a six-time suspendee and six-time finee who even tends to hurt people with his clean hits and has no problem chucking knuckles if anyone takes exception to them. If there was a chance Canada would match up against the brawny Americans at the 2026 Olympics, hauling a bazooka to a gun fight made sense.
Or did it? The Canadians ended up winning the 4 Nations in their rematch with the Americans. Their superior all-around play at both ends of the ice and clutch ability won out. The IIHF rulebook also prohibited fighting and (in theory) policed physical play tighter; would the reckless Wilson prove an Olympic liability more than an asset?
The truth: characterizing Wilson as a feral beast was never fair. He was a 2012 first-round pick who always moved extremely well for a man his size. He’d spent the majority of his career playing on a scoring line and often the top line with the Washington Capitals. Wilson won a Stanley Cup with them in 2017-18 and, across his 13 seasons playing in the NHL, only Alex Ovechkin scored more goals in a Capitals sweater as of the Olympic break.
Canada’s decision to bring Wilson to Milan, then, wouldn’t mean he was only a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency weapon. He was leading the Capitals in scoring in 2025-26, pacing for career-best goal and point totals at 31 years old. He’d earned his place on the team.
And, in the eyes of coach Jon Cooper, Wilson had earned a place on the first line alongside superstars Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini, who sit first and fourth in NHL scoring this season. Perhaps being asked to drive the play on a scoring line would keep Wilson’s mind focused on play between whistles and using his bludgeoning bodychecks in moderation. The experiment seemed to end when, for Canada’s second group-stage game vs. Switzerland, Cooper opted for a Nuclear-Grade first line of Celebrini, McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, with predictably awesome results. Wilson’s most memorable moment vs. the Swiss was an infamous one in which he got tangled up with Kevin Fiala, resulting in a tournament-ending injury for Fiala. But Cooper, surprisingly, went back to Wilson on line 1 for Canada’s game Sunday vs. France. The results made Cooper look pretty brilliant, pretty quickly.
In a span of a few seconds during the first period Sunday, Wilson showcased everything he can bring. He used his underrated speed to win a race to a puck, using his size to box out Stephane Da Costa behind the French net, then rapidly corralled the puck off the boards with quick hands and dished to Celebrini, who missed the pass. As Drew Doughty collected the puck and launched a slapshot, Wilson then barrelled his way to the net and buried a rebound for his first goal of the tourney.
Tom Wilson gets things going for Canada with his first goal of #MilanoCortina2026 🚨
Midway though the second period of Canada’s 10-2 victory, Wilson set up in the slot and almost had a tap-in for a second goal, one-timing a perfect feed from McDavid but robbed on Julian Junca’s best save of the game. Wilson ended the day with a goal and an assist.
But he also had to be, well, Tom Wilson. After Pierre Crinon’s big hit on Nathan MacKinnon in the third period, Wilson scrummed with Crinon, earning Wilson a fighting major and game misconduct and putting his status in question for Canada’s next game.
“I appreciate it. Tom is a good teammate and I appreciated him sticking up for me,” MacKinnon told reporters after the win.
“We know ‘Willie’ has our backs, and he will protect all our guys and bring the energy,” Bennett told reporters Sunday. “We love that from ‘Willie.’ He will do anything for our team.”
There’s at least a non-zero chance Wilson earns a suspension for the late fracas vs. France. Maybe Wilson doesn’t and opens the quarterfinal round on the McDavid line. Maybe not. Cooper still used MacKinnon on the line as a late-period closer on Sunday. But Wilson’s intimidating presence, and ability to keep pace with McDavid and Celebrini while road-grading space for them, give Cooper the option of letting MacKinnon power his own line, deepening Canada’s lineup.
And the further Canada goes in this tournament, the more intense and physical the play will become, making Wilson even more of a potential X-Factor. But even if the play skews more toward speed and skill and not toward violence: Wilson can matter just as much. That’s the important takeaway so far in this tournament.
He’s so much more than a blunt instrument. Even if he can flick the switch and become one whenever he want to.
_____
POST SPONSORED BY bet365
_____