Tom Wilson won’t be suspended for punching and roughing against the New York Rangers
Tom Wilson has been handed a $5,000 fine from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his actions Monday night against the New York Rangers.
Washington’s Tom Wilson has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Roughing NY Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 4, 2021
At the midpoint of the second period with the Capitals killing a penalty, Wilson pushed Pavel Buchnevich to the ice and punched his head multiple times. Artemi Panarin came and to pull Wilson off of his teammate, and Wilson bodyslammed Panarin to the ice. Panarin will miss the remainder of the 2021 season due to injury.
Tom Wilson gets a 10-minute misconduct for punching Buchnevich in the head on the ground and body slamming Panarin pic.twitter.com/fg2HRej8yD
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 4, 2021
Ultimately, the NHL deemed Wilson’s actions weren’t worthy of a suspension, which has sent fans and media around the league into a frenze. Wilson has built himself a reputation around the league as a player who crosses the line with violent and dirty plays, such as this charge on Robert Thomas and this blindside hit on Oscar Sundqvist.
Wilson has been suspended on five occasions by the NHL, the most severe of which was a 20-game ban for that aforementioned hit on Sundqvist.