Quoting: Eli
Wilson is great at puck possession, checking, penalty killing, and pretty much any other measure of defense. He used to make a lot of dirty hits. Now he really doesn't, and the NHL has been spot-on in noticing that they didn't need to suspend him for fighting Panarin, even though Panarin scores more goals. The guy you're arguing Wilson's value with in that comment is a Penguins fan. He does not even like the Capitals. He's just being honest with you. The Kadri trade was 100% about John Tavares wanting to play #1C in Toronto. I don't see John Tavares signing to play #1RW in WSH, so it doesn't seem like a comparable.
You're completely kidding with this, right? I'm sorry, but most of this couldn't be further from the truth.
1: good puck possession player?
CorsiFor - 49.5%
FenwickFor - 48.2%
Both aren't good at all. And he hasn't even been over 52% in either of those categories since 2014-15.
2: checking?
The guy literally commits dirty acts all the damn time. I agree with you about nothing for the Panarin situation, but the punches to the head/shoulder of a completely defenceless Buchnevich is nothing but a dirty play.
3: penalty killing?
He's not a terrible PK player but he's nothing special either. I'm not gonna spend much time debating that.
4: every other defensive metric?
Completely disagree there. The guy is sheltered so much defensively to even consider him a good defensive player. He doesn't suppress shots well, doesn't have great defensive coverage, and starts in the offensive zone the majority of the time. The only thing he has going for him there is his xGA which I'd argue is highly affected by his zone start usage being the highest of his career at 61.7%.
5: doesn't make dirty hits anymore?
LOL this has to be where you're joking. The guy literally just punched a defenceless player lying deface down on the ice. Not to mention he was suspended 7 games already this year for a dirty hit in Brandon Carlo.
I really hope you weren't serious about any of that.