Capitals' Wilson keen to return to playoffs in 2024

Missing the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs didn't sit well with Tom Wilson and the rest of the Washington Capitals.

"There's a lot of winners in that room, and when you don't make the playoffs, it's a failure to what we believe in, in our group," he said during a press conference Monday, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers.

The Capitals missed the postseason by 12 points. It was their first time falling short of the playoffs since 2013-14, which was Wilson's first campaign with Washington.

"We're hungry to get back at it and get this moving back in the right direction and show the culture of what it is to be a Cap," Wilson continued. "And that's winning games, that's playing hard, that's making it hard for teams to come into our building.

"We built that for a long time. You talk to other players around the league, they're like, 'Hey, we knew when we came into D.C., our chances weren't good.' That's what we've got to get back to."

The 29-year-old has been a Capital for his entire career thus far. He opted to prolong his stay Friday by signing a seven-year, $45.5-million extension, which begins in 2024-25.

Wilson saw his name pop up in trade rumors this offseason, which he said was a "weird" experience, per The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir. However, all that hearsay motivated Wilson and general manager Brian MacLellan to come to an agreement sooner rather than later.

"I wanted to get rid of that, not have to worry about that," Wilson said. "I knew I wanted to be here for as long as I could, and the team expressed the same."

Wilson's 2022-23 season debut was delayed until early January due to an ACL injury. He accrued 13 tallies and 22 points in 33 contests while ending the campaign on a four-game goal streak.