Some of Scott Wilson’s best friends are now millionaires.
Conor Sheary got $9 million over three seasons this past summer, Brian Dumoulin $24.6 million over six while also avoiding arbitration. Matt Murray’s $3.75-million-a-year extension kicks in this season, and there’s little doubt the Penguins will lock up Bryan Rust when the time comes.
That means a couple things to Wilson: one funny, one serious.
“I’m kind of pumped that I don’t have to play for many dinners on the road,” Wilson said Wednesday following the Penguins morning skate at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
Then, he turned serious. While Wilson might be able to milk his buddies for a couple of free steaks this season, he’d really like to play well enough to enjoy his first NHL payday and take his turn picking up the tab.
“I think it’s motivating,” Wilson said. “Even when you see other guys you don’t know in the league … You think, ‘I’m right there with that guy, and he’s making this. That’s what I want to go out and do.’
“I don’t think it’s necessarily just the guys in the locker room. I think it’s kind of league wide. Guys you’ve just skated with and think you’re in that same ballpark. I think it’s motivating for sure.”
So, the question natural becomes: Which ballpark is Wilson in?
Few know at this point, perhaps Wilson included. His play has been up-and-down, his role on the team often mirroring that.
Wilson battled a broken toe injury last season that he said he had to deal with for the final four months of the season. While he refused to blame it for any sort of skating woes, there were certainly dips in Wilson’s production and ice time.
In December and January, before the toe injury, Wilson averaged just 8:59 of ice time. He had one goal in the final 19 regular-season games before producing three goals and six points in 20 postseason contests.
Such inconsistency resulted in some line shuffling between a fourth-line spot and a role with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
It goes without saying that Wilson would prefer the latter over the former.
“That line last year had pretty good success, I thought,” Wilson said. “I tried to just stick to my game, and I learned that playing with Geno, you can’t be changing the way you play. I think the beginning of the year last year, I kind of changed myself. Over the course of the year when I got that chance with them, I just tried to stay north-south. That’s definitely something I’m shooting for. Hopefully I’m shooting the puck and keep hanging onto the puck will get me there.”
Wilson getting top-six minutes won’t automatically happen.
So far this camp, coach Mike Sullivan has had Zach Aston-Reese there while playing Wilson with guys a tick or two below on the offensive spectrum.
The Penguins have also remained active and informed when it comes to Russian winger Danis Zaripov, who would project as a potential left wing on Malkin’s line.
Bryan Rust has had success there, too, which means Wilson will have to provide a compelling case to Sullivan.
The Penguins do like Wilson’s offensive ability — he has a quick release and isn’t afraid to bang a few bodies — but Sullivan said he wants to see Wilson continue to develop and grow, to show more consistency than he has to this point.
“I think he’s come into camp in great shape,” Sullivan said. “I thought his first week or so has been really strong. He’s skating. He’s on the puck. He’s been competitive in the intrasquad.
“We think he has the potential to score at this level. He can really shoot the puck. He plays with a lot of courage. We’re trying to help him continue to develop in that regard.”
To Wilson, much of that means using his shot more. He scored eight goals and produced 26 points a season ago, but he admitted that he didn’t always have that shoot-first mentality that he probably should.
To nail down that spot next to Malkin – and the contract-worthy production that would theoretically come with it – Wilson knows it’s time to pull the trigger more.
And, probably most of all, have confidence doing it.
“I’m trying to shoot more,” Wilson said. “Even just in practice, trying to get your mindset on that. They always tell me to use my shot. I think last year I got away from that, worrying about other stuff a bit too much. For me I know I need to shoot the puck more and hang onto it more instead of just automatically getting rid of it.”
Wilson also said he’d like to earn a regular role on the penalty kill or power play, where he averaged a combined 23 seconds of ice time a season ago.
“I feel good about my game,” Wilson said. “I definitely want to try and earn more ice time this year.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: September 20, 2017, 5:18 p.m.
Updated: September 21, 2017, 3:57 a.m.
