Washington Capitals Sign Whalers Right Wing Tom Wilson to Entry Level Deal

PLYMOUTH - The Washington Capitals have signed Plymouth Whalers right wing Tom Wilson to a three-year, entry level contract. Wilson, 18, was selected by Washington in the first round (16th overall) of the 2012 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

Here's the release from Washington, which includes video.

Although Washington had a two-year window in which to sign Wilson, they didn't hesitate after seeing him play in the Captials development camp earlier this month.

“He is what we were looking for when we drafted him. He’s a big, strong kid that really competes,” Capitals general manager George McPhee told the Washington Post. “Boy, the first three or four shifts of the opening scrimmage earlier in the week I was worried that if he did that all week we’d only have two or three players left on the ice. But we got him to settle down a little bit and protect everybody else for the rest of the week. We like him a lot, great kid, character. He’s going to be a pretty effective player.”

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Wilson has been selected to play for Canada in the upcoming Canada-Russia challenge and will report to the Whalers training camp in late August.  He'll go to Washington's training camp in September and is expected to play with Plymouth in 2012-13.

Wilson was featured by Patrick King of Sportsnet.ca just before the 2012 NHL Entry Draft:

There was more leg room and the occasional starburst from the timekeeper, but as far as Tom Wilson was concerned, the penalty box may as well have been the player's bench.

It was his first season in the Ontario Hockey League and Wilson desperately wanted to earn his keep on a deep and veteran-laden team from Plymouth. His minutes were scarce and his role minimal, but he knew he could still make an impact and bring something to the team.

Besides, as he saw it, there wasn't much difference between the Whalers' bench and the more spacious one on the opposite side of the ice.

"I would go out and try to get the energy going," Wilson described of his rookie season. "If I got into a fight, I was sitting five minutes in the box and I had helped the team maybe get some energy whereas I would probably be sitting the five minutes on the bench anyway until my next shift."

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Wilson joins Plymouth teammates Stefan Noesen (Ottawa), Rickard Rakell (Anaheim) and JT Miller (NY Rangers) as a first-round NHL pick who has been signed.

BYSTROM SIGNS WITH DALLAS:  Earlier this week, the Dallas Stars announced the signing of defenseman Ludvig Bystrom, who was taken by Plymouth 21st overall in the 2012 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft.

See the release for the Stars.