Penguins’ Wilson Finds His Niche

It was a pretty goal. A goal scorer’s goal. One born of hustle, desire and determination.

Chasing a loose puck through the neutral zone late in the Penguins’ 6-2 victory on Monday night, Scott Wilson streaked past Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman with a jet-pack burst and retrieved the rubber in the Lightning end. Eyeing goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, No. 23 showed forehand before deftly switching to his backhand and lofting the puck over the rangy netminder’s outstretched glove.

It was the kind of high-energy play the Pens were expecting from Wilson after the 24-year-old left wing led the team in scoring during the preseason. A performance that slotted him squarely among the club’s top-six forwards.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite according to plan. Perhaps daunted by the prospect of sharing the ice with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and overly mindful of his defensive duties, Wilson appeared hesitant and off stride through the early going. Understandable, given the circumstances. Yet a tad disappointing, nonetheless.

“Willy” soon found himself watching from the press box before being reinstated by Pens coach Mike Sullivan in mid-November, albeit in a lesser role.

Happily, it’s turned out to be another case of Sullivan using a player in a way that gives him the best chance to succeed.

Since being dropped to the fourth line, the details in Wilson’s game have emerged with striking clarity. No longer tentative and unsure, his natural speed and aggression have bubbled to the surface. As witnessed by his 85 hits—third highest on the team.

Skating with Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr, he’s displayed good chemistry with his veteran linemates. Clearly comfortable with his new role as the unit’s demo guy, he’s often the first man in on the forecheck, disrupting opposing breakouts with a tantalizing combination of speed, smarts and sand. He’s a surprisingly ferocious hitter, given his less-than-imposing 5’11” 183-pound frame.

It was a lack of size, rather than a dearth of talent, that kept Wilson off the scouts’ radar screens as an 18 year old. Despite a pair of 20-goal seasons for the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, the feisty redhead wasn’t among the 210 North American skaters listed in Central Scouting’s final 2011 rankings.

Noting the kid’s similarities to Chris Kunitz—an undrafted free agent out of Ferris State—former Pens GM Ray Shero snagged the Oakville, Ontario native with the third-to-last pick in the draft.

Opting to play college hockey, Wilson racked up 16 goals in 37 games as a freshman for UMass-Lowell. He topped the team in scoring as a sophomore while helping to lead the River Hawks to a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four.

After enduring a dip in production his junior year, Wilson joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2014-15. He quickly proved to be too good for the AHL, amassing 41 goals in 90 games for the Baby Pens over a two-year span.

Recalled by the Penguins in late January 2016, Wilson heated up in February following a sluggish start, notching five goals over a 10-game stretch before suffering a season-ending broken ankle against Columbus on March 11.

Thus far in 2016-17, he’s tallied five goals and 11 points in 36 games while averaging a shade under 11 minutes of ice time per game. Not to mention a Corsi For % of 51.6 at even strength. Highly respectable numbers for a member of the lunch-pail gang.

Who knows? Wilson’s inspired play may one day earn him another look with Sid or Geno.

In the meantime, he’ll keep bangin.’