Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson is not on the trade block. Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan squashed the notion, once again, in a message to TSN’s Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun.
“He’s not calling teams about Tom Wilson, he does not want to trade Tom Wilson, [and] he’s not sure why that’s out there,” LeBrun said of MacLellan’s message to him.
Rumors surfaced again on Monday when former Ottawa Senators’ defenseman Jason York said he was hearing the Capitals were shopping Wilson, this time specifically to Ottawa.
Former #Sens D Jason York, speaking on a show he does Monday, with a local podcaster, said he’s hearing the Washington Capitals would like to make a deal to send rugged winger Tom Wilson to Ottawa. If that’s the case, he’d be a solid addition.
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) June 26, 2023
Rumors about Capitals wanting to trade Wilson also surfaced a few weeks ago during the Stanley Cup finals. Reports stated that the Los Angeles Kings “kicked the tires” on potentially acquiring Wilson.
A nugget that comes at the end of the new episode of KOTP.
We’ve heard Kings have kicked tires on Caps forward Tom Wilson, who is entering the last year of his deal. https://t.co/IRokN0K0me— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) June 11, 2023
That rumor was quickly squashed by Sportsnet’s’ Elliotte Friedman.
“During the final, I really didn’t get a chance to look into it too much. I heard the reports. I’ll be honest, I didn’t hear any of the information myself. But I heard the reports. So I finally looked into it now that the Stanley Cup Final is over, and I got rejected,” said Friedman.
“I was told it’s not happening. I was told that the Capitals want to keep him, and they consider him a big part of their future.”
Wilson is entering the final year of his current deal which carries a cap hit of $5.17 million.
Wilson had 13 goals and 22 points in 33 games this season after he returned from a torn ACL suffered in the 2022 playoffs.