Capitals forward Tom Wilson suspended 20 games

Washington Capitals striker Tom Wilson has been suspended 20 times for an illegal coup at the head of St. Louis Blues striker Oskar Sundqvist, the team's Safety Department announced. the NHL at the conclusion of a hearing in person held on Wednesday.

Wilson is considered a recidivist under the collective agreement and, based on his average annual salary, will lose $ 1,260,162.60 in salary.

Tom Wilson, of Washington, has suspended twenty matches for an illegal check at the head of Oskar Sundqvist of St. Louis. https://t.co/ojQ4yN6oFN

– NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 3, 2018

This is Wilson's fourth suspension since last September – a period of 105 games – including a ban of three playoff games in 2018, en route to the Stanley Cup win with the Capitals. The 20-game ban is longest for the NHL since San Jose Sharks striker Raffi Torres's 41-game ban on Oct. 3, 2015 for hitting the Ducks' winger's head , Jakob Silfverberg. Like Wilson, Torres had reoffended, but his suspensions were far from as frequent.

The Player Safety Department did not have a formula for a player who was so often suspended in the modern era, with only 16 games between suspensions.

According to the agreement between the NHL and the AJLNH in the collective agreement: "Players who repeatedly break the rules of the league will be punished more severely with each new offense."

On Sunday, during a preseason game, Wilson had an important touch with Sundqvist's head after the Blues forward threw the puck at the Capitals' goal. He was eligible to be hit here on the ice, but Wilson targeted his head rather than doing a full body check. According to the Department of Player Safety, contact with the head was preventable on this game and that "this move was entirely under the control of Wilson".

According to sources, the executive director of Wilson and Capitals, Brian MacLellan, asked if the contact was primarily with the leader and whether Sundqvist had placed himself in a vulnerable position.

The Department of Player Safety argued that the hit was not out of line – that it was less about "convincing" Tom Wilson, but about illegally controlling his head.

Wilson has been suspended three times since September 22, 2017. He was banned for two pre-season games for interfering with Blues' Robert Thomas, attempting a hit near the St. Louis bench. On October 1, 2017, he was suspended for four regular season games for boarding Samuel Blais of the Anaheim Ducks. Then came Wilson's most notorious suspension: three playoff games for breaking the jaw of Zach Aston-Reese of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a success in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

During the Penguins series, the Department of Player Safety told ESPN that the combination of an "extreme injury" and an "extreme story" was decisive in the decision to play three playoff games for Wilson. At the time, defender Brooks Orpik said that Wilson's reputation had played in this ban.