As Tom Wilson waits for the NHL’s appeal hearing on Thursday with Gary Bettman, the Capitals power forward has informed the media in Washington that he plans on cleaning up his game and the way he hits.

Wilson, who was suspended 20 games for an illegal hit to head of St. Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist during the pre-season, spoke with The Athletic’s Chris Kuc and admitted that he needs to change the style of play that’s made him arguably the most controversial player in the entire National Hockey League.

 “The hitting aspect of the game is definitely changing a little bit and I have to be smart out there and I have to play within the rules."

Saying it and actually applying it to his game are, of course, two separate things entirely. 

Since 2013, no player has been penalized as much as Wilson has since he first stepped foot into the NHL, which includes 58 majors in the regular season alone that accounts of roughly 20 percent of the penalties he’s taken for a total of 806 minutes, as per SportingNews.com.

The suspension from the hit on Sundqvist was the fourth of his career with all of them coming in his last 105 games played (pre-season and playoffs included).  According to Cap Friendly, Wilson will forfeit $1.26 million in salary if the NHL decides to uphold the current suspension in which he’ll have served six games by the time Thursday’s hearing is conducted. Currently, Wilson could return on November 21st for the Capitals game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

(Twitter/ Chris Kuc)