The Department of Player Safety issued a $5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, to Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson for roughing the New York Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich Monday night. The incident included much more than just the interaction between Wilson and Buchnevich. The Capitals forward earned two minor roughing penalties and a 10-minute misconduct during the game, but unless there is more supplementary discipline to come, he appears to have avoided suspension.
The part of the interaction that caused most of the outrage, slamming Artemi Panarin into the ice, was not addressed by the league at all. Emily Kaplan of ESPN tweets that the DOPS saw everything after the punch on Buchnevich as “two guys wrestling, which happens every night.”
Of course, Wilson’s actions are usually scrutinized more than the average player, and for good reason. He has been suspended several times in his career, including earlier this season when he received a seven-game ban for his hit on Brandon Carlo. In the explanation of that event, the league deemed it as:
…a player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a defenseless position, and doing so with significant force.
None of the players involved this time suffered any serious injuries, which is perhaps part of the reason that Wilson avoided suspension this time around. The two teams will play again Wednesday night.
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