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The New York Rangers are one of the Original Six teams in the NHL, so they have a lengthy history when it comes to moments, accolades, and rivalries. When thinking of the latter, you think of their annual feuds with the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, and Philadelphia Flyers. Make no mistake about it, Rangers fans want the team to beat those rivals every chance they get in a season.
When it comes to individual villains in recent memory for the Rangers, there are the likes of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. But one name stands out above the rest, and that's Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals. Yes, all of the other fanbases that don't support the Capitals have beef with Wilson. He plays a style of hockey that is aggressive and can result in a top player leaving the game if they were to make contact with Wilson's shoulder (or elbow). Not to mention, he loves to egg on the opposition, baiting them into fights.
But for the Rangers fanbase they have more reason than anyone to have a deep hatred for Wilson, and it all dates back to one game back in 2021.
Tom Wilson's antics against Artemi Panarin set forth multiple changes for Rangers
Back on May 3, 2021, the Rangers faced off against the Capitals. During that game, there was a scrum caused by Wilson, as he dragged Pavel Buchnevich to the ice and punched him in the back of the head. As if Wilson couldn't cause more chaos, as he began fighting with Artemi Panarin after the Rangers star jumped on his back. In the process, Wilson ripped of Panarin's helmet, grabbed his hair, and began slamming him face-first onto the ice. Pouring more salt into the wound, Wilson began flexing his muscles in the penalty box, showing no remorse for his actions.
Panarin was ruled out for the final three games of the season due to a lower body injury caused by the melee. As for Wilson, he was not handed a suspension by the NHL Department of Player Safety, who was led by George Parros. Wilson only received a $5,000 fine, which was the maximum allowed in the collective bargaining agreement. This happened months after Wilson gave then-Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo a concussion, resulting in a seven game suspension.
Rangers owner James Dolan was livid over the NHL's lack of discipline for Wilson. So much so, that he released a scathing statement ripping Parros for his lack of action, calling for him to step down.
"The New York Rangers are extremely disappointed that Capitals forward Tom Wilson was not suspended for his horrifying act of violence last night at Madison Square Garden. Wilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these type of acts and we find it shocking that the NHL and their Department of Player Safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely. Wilson’s dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL Head of Player Safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role."
Dolan's statement resulted in the Rangers being fined $250,000 by the NHL.
Shortly after the regular season ended, Dolan fired team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton. While it did appear that it was related to the lack of fight from the Rangers, that wasn't the case, as Dolan grew impatient with Davidson's and Gorton's vision of how to build the team into a contender.
This would create the domino effect. The Rangers, who promoted Chris Drury from associate general manager to general manager and team president, wanted to add more physical players from their lineup. They added Ryan Reaves, who notably gave Wilson a concussion on an open-ice hit back in 2018 when he was with the Vegas Golden Knights. The Rangers also traded for Sammy Blais, and gave up Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues in return. The team also added Barclay Goodrow to a six-year contract.
As for how that panned out, Reaves spent one year with the Rangers, where he was traded to the Minnesota Wild early in the 2022-23 season. Blais tore his ACL 14 games into the 2021-22 season after getting slew-footed by then-Devils defenseman P.K. Subban. He would be traded back to the Blues in 2023. As for Goodrow, he was unceremoniously waived by Drury in the summer of 2024, where he was claimed by the San Jose Sharks, who were on his no-trade list. Goodrow was the first player to express dissatisfaction with how Drury handled things as general manager, claiming that the executive never approached him about a trade.
The Rangers did make the Eastern Conference Finals twice in three years from 2022 until 2024. But the actions by Wilson did have a major effect on the Rangers' plans, causing them to pivot to adding physical players as opposed to skill players.
Capitals fans' main defense is "you would love to have a player like Wilson on your team." But Wilson's gigantic list of suspensions and fines would make that a tough pill to swallow for some fans.
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This article was originally published on bluelinestation.com as Tom Wilson singlehandedly set a domino effect for the Rangers with one game.
