TORONTO — The Washington Capitals have become appointment viewing again.

Not as defending Stanley Cup champions or for the chance to see Alex Ovechkin ram home another goal from his power-play office.

It’s because all eyes are on Tom Wilson. Again.

Everyone will be watching to see when the human cruise missile crosses the line again because, at this point, with his history, it’s a matter of when and not if. Wilson has lost the benefit of the doubt now after inflicting numerous brain injuries.

Wilson will slide back into his familiar role alongside Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov on Tuesday night, four games earlier than the Capitals expected.

Independent arbitrator Shyam Das reduced Wilson’s landmark 20-game suspension to 14 games on Tuesday for his illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist on Sept. 30. Das split the number of games down the middle since the NHLPA originally argued that Wilson should’ve been suspended eight games.

The NHL tried to throw the book at Wilson with a precedent setting suspension, to really try and effect change with a quarter-of-a-season ban and resulting $1.26 million fine.

Tuesday’s reduced sentence saved Wilson more than $378,000 in forfeited salary, a key reason behind the appeal process. The hit cost him $882,113.

The question is: Will that hit to the wallet and the hit to his reputation make Wilson think next time? Capitals GM Brian MacLellan hopes so.

“There are certain hits that he just has to stop trying,” MacLellan said. “We talked about it numerous times over the last few weeks. Some hits, he’s just going to have to avoid. They’re too risky the way they’re evaluating him.”

MacLellan didn’t say that to mean Wilson has a target on his back, even though there’s no question he will be watched differently now.

The onus is on Wilson and no one else. The NHL outlined in commissioner Gary Bettman’s ruling that upheld the original 20-game suspension that vice-president of Player Safety George Parros met with Wilson in-person and conducted numerous phone calls to warn him of close calls. The Caps have seemingly sent the same message.

“He’s going to have to avoid some hits and he’s going to have to let up on some hits,” MacLellan said. “You can’t have the same force because he hits hard and it looks bad and sometimes he’s going to be evaluated on the force.”

Wilson, 24, is paid to play on the edge of legal in the NHL. He is a big boy at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, and makes defenders nervous on the forecheck. When he hits clean, he hits hard.

Without that edge, Wilson is really just any other plug-and-play player in the NHL. He is in the first year of a six-year, $31 million deal. He cashed in after the Stanley Cup parade and a career-high 35-point campaign, but he didn’t break seven goals in any of his first four full seasons in the NHL.

There has to be some worry on the Capitals part, especially with this new deal, whether Wilson can do both – walk the right side of the line and still be effective enough to warrant $5.17 million per year.

That is the challenge.

“Yeah,” MacLellan said. “I mean, we want him to be physical. He’s effective for his linemates and for the team playing physical. He’s had, I don’t know, 1,100 hits and he’s got what, two head-shot suspensions? It’s a lot. He still needs to play physical, but he needs to pass up a few of the hits."

The Capitals played 16 games in the 43 days it took for Wilson and the NHLPA to exhaust the appeal process, meaning he sat two games longer than necessary.

The Capitals and the NHLPA asked the arbitrator to speed up his process.

“We asked to have it earlier and the arbitrator said he needed two weeks to get it done,” MacLellan said.

Parros declined to comment after Tuesday’s GM meeting, saying the arbitrator’s decision was, “out of my hands.” Parros was supported by his boss, Bettman, who upheld Parros’ formula for 20 games on Wilson’s first appeal.

Bettman wrote that Parros took Wilson’s last suspension, a three-game playoff suspension which equated to six regular-season games, multiplied it by three (to get to 18) and then added an initial two for Sundqvist’s injury.

Bettman concluded that multiplication was “eminently reasonable and appropriate” but Das disagreed, citing historical precedent set by the league in previous suspensions.

“[Bettman’s] explanation is too thin a reed to substantially support the application of a multiplier of 3x, as used in Parros’ methodology,” Das wrote in his ruling.

Bettman also wrote that he hoped this suspension would serve as a “wake-up call” for Wilson. Only time will tell whether it’s been an effective deterrent.

“I think a lot of players are adapting. I think the whole league is adapting,” MacLellan said. “As these rules get defined and people get a greater understanding of them, I think [Wilson] has become extremely aware of how they’re looking at it.”

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Tom Wilson suspension timeline:

- Sept. 30: Illegal check to the head of St. Louis’ Oskar Sundqvist in a preseason game

- Oct. 3: Wilson issued 20-game suspension by NHL Department of Player Safety

- Oct. 5: NHLPA announces Wilson will formally appeal suspension

- Oct. 18: Bettman holds seven-hour appeal hearing in New York

- Oct. 25: Bettman upholds 20-game suspension, writes he hopes it’s a “wake-up call” for Wilson

- Oct. 26: NHLPA announces Wilson will appeal Bettman’s decision to independent arbitrator Shyam Das

- Oct. 31: Independent arbitrator hearing held in New York

- Nov. 13: Independent arbitrator issues ruling reducing by six games

Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli​