Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson has been offered an in-person hearing for what has been deemed an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues centre Oskar Sundqvist, the league announced Sunday.
The incident in question occurred during the two teams’ pre-season tilt on Sunday, during which Wilson laid out Sundqvist with the high hit during the game’s second period. Wilson was given a game misconduct as a result and could now face a suspension of six games or more.
Blues coach Mike Yeo said the young forward is “not good” following the collision, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
Wilson is no stranger to instances such as these. The big-bodied forward drew plenty of criticism during the 2018 post-season as he found himself involved in more than a few questionable situations.
He earned a three-game suspension during the second round of those playoffs for knocking Pittsburgh Penguins rookie Zach Aston-Reese out of the series with a check to the head, breaking the winger’s jaw in the process. That after taking out Penguins defender Brian Dumoulin with a similar hit one game prior.
The 24-year-old also drew the ire of NHL fans during the first round when he laid out Columbus’s Alexander Wennberg with a similar check, as well as during the Stanley Cup Final when he came up with a controversial hit on Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault.
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