Matt Martin highlight reel (amateur, have to skip the first minute to get past photo montage)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP6QJOoM7cs
Guy could totally work on his skating, on offense. Just kind of glides to the net with his stick on the ice, and sometimes guys bounce pucks in off of him. Will totally hit you and fight you. All the time. Is big and mean. Fights actual tough guys.
Tom Wilson highlight reel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x52Z8dG-QJM
Scores on the rush. Can set up a screen, but likes to actually create offense, skating quickly right down the middle of the ice, like Ovechkin but without all the skill. A good complimentary player to work with Ovechkin and double down on the idea of a big guy rushing the puck at the the net (when Ovi still does that... also, Burakovsky needs to do more of that, too). Definitely faster and more skilled than Matt Martin, but somehow Martin comes up with 130 more hits a year. Wilson's highlight reel has him fighting Anders Lee, which is quite an accomplishment because, win or lose, Lee has to sit out five minutes.
Wilson's offense still could be more creative. it's just speed and size and hoping that turns into something. In the playoffs he made one awesome back pass to Kuznetsov for a give and go that he finished pretty well. Other people claim to see flashes, too. But I saw flashes of exceptionality out of Brooks Laich, who could really rush the puck past the crowd in his first couple seasons, could play any position, and who actually had three seasons above 20 goals and two seasons above 50 points (
https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/laichbr01.html). Tom Wilson could, as a ceiling, be as good of an offensive player as Brooks Laich. Paying him 4M until he's 31 is not as bad as Laich's last contract, but it's not terribly exciting.
I disagree that centers get more salary for the same achievements. I just think teams have more good players listed as centers right now, and good players earn more. Tom Wilson's 35 points were 44th on the right wing, and 35 points would have also been 44th on the left wing. But the 44th center in points, Paul Stastny, had 53 points, about 50% more than Wilson. If Wilson played center he would have been 92nd in points among centers, so..... just about the worst 3C in the league.
You come down a couple spots and you get to Boone Jenner who usually plays wing, usually outscores Wilson, and injured Burakovsky in the playoffs, causing him to miss twelve games. Burakovsky is not a little guy. Boone Jenner has had a 30 goal season, and now makes 4M a year. Boone Jenner started 17.6% more of his shifts in the defensive zone than Tom Wilson last year, but there was only a 3.9% difference in their corsi. Wilson got 45 more hits this year, but Jenner blocked 32 more shots. Wilson dished a lot of hard hits in the playoffs but fortunately didn't injure anybody in the Columbus series, that I remember. Jenner also has four seasons above ten goals, to Wilson's one, although he is almost a whole year older.
Paying Tom Wilson more than Matt Martin is fine. Martin has never broken ten goals and hasn't really progressed offensively since juniors. Paying 14 goal scorer and crushing checker Tom Wilson as much as 30 goal scorer and crushing checker Boone Jenner makes is ridiculous, unless Ovechkin says it'll cause him to stick around longer. If it's just for Wilson, 3M should be enough for right now and about four years into the future. 3.5M for six or seven years.
Komarov is a bit smaller, but has put up 19 goals, 36 points and 283 hits in a season, two years ago. I think he's a pretty solid comparable. Wilson is younger and could theoretically improve, but so far Komarov is better than him. Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mOENwKQNyo
Komarov can score on the rush or with a one timer the same as Wilson. He can absolutely freight train guys with their head down, about like Wilson. But watch at 1:28, for the behind the back, through the legs assist that Wilson doesn't think of, just yet. They definitely each have some different strengths and weaknesses, but Leo Komarov is a pretty close comparable player to Tom Wilson (
https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/k/komarle01.html). I'd love to see Wilson signed at 21 over 7. Whether Komarov is overpaid or not, that's the current price on that combination of grit and speed.