CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Capitals' Tom Wilson is often referred to as a "hockey unicorn."
He's a rarity. There just isn't anyone like Wilson in the game today who has his combination of size, (6-4, 220), physicality, an intimidation factor, and the ability to actually play skilled hockey -- he's no goon.
In speaking with prospects, it's also pretty uncommon for Wilson to be a player that a prospect names as someone he tries to emulate or model his game after. If a prospect does have that size, physicality and intimidation in his game -- which alone is pretty rare -- then he typically doesn't have a ton of skill or offensive production to go along with it.