Capitals winger T.J. Oshie has been placed on injured reserve and is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports. The move opens up the necessary roster spot to recall winger Ivan Miroshnichenko from AHL Hershey, which was announced by the team earlier Monday.
Oshie, 37, left Thursday’s game against the Lightning after a non-contact injury late in the third period. Initially suspected as a lower-body injury based on the way he fell, his injury designation has changed to upper-body, generating some concern the ailment could be related to the back issues that have hampered him over the past few years. While he’s only been ruled out of Washington’s next two contests, he’ll likely miss a significant chunk of time.
The Capitals have kept Oshie in a top-six role this season, but age is catching up to the veteran winger, and his production has dipped as a result. He was on a tear before the injury, with six points in his last six games, but that rush only brought him up to 10 goals and 18 points in 38 games on the season. He’s bounced around various line combinations this season, recording a middling CF% of 47.2 at even strength. However, he hasn’t graded out as a particularly strong possession player for a few years.
It’s still a tough break for the Capitals, who need all the help they can get to make up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race. It’s even more concerning for Oshie’s long-term health, as he’s already missed two significant chunks of the season with upper- and lower-body injuries. The 2005 first-round pick of the Blues is four games short of 1,000 in his career and has one season remaining on his eight-year, $46MM extension signed with the Caps in 2017.
The Caps are eight points behind the Lightning with four games in hand for the last wild-card spot in the East, although they’ve only won four of their last 10 games. Their -31 goal differential is also third-worst in the conference, only ahead of the Canadiens and Blue Jackets.
Oshie is 37 years old and making just under 6 million a year, Nice cap management.
Uninformed comment
@Wilf — Remember, some of these “bad” contracts were pre-COVID, when Bettman fed the owners and GMs a pile of BS regarding revenue projections, which the pandemic killed. Most teams engaged in deficit spending, hoping the cap would go up steadily, which, of course, didn’t happen. And, IMO, Oshie is a valuable veteran-presence kind of guy who appears to be good in the locker room.
Actually spot on. And your welcome.
Everyone in the locker room is an adult. The good in the locker room narrative is tired and old! And let’s not forget that by in large that is the coaches responsibility along with his numerous assistants. You pay guys for positive results on the ice.
Let Wilf run. He is going for the record.
Not at all actually. Look at the instant result of his contract: a Stanley Cup. It was worth it as it was a necessary move at the time to win. In the present, his cap hit doesn’t matter, Washington isn’t winning anytime soon and is headed towards a rebuild and I’d argue that Oshie is still a guy people like to see play in person and will pay to do so. I’ll ask you this, what would Washington do with that cap space to really move the needle for them right now?
The Caps knew that the back end of Oshie’s contract was going to be painful when he was signed to it. Everyone was hoping it wouldn’t be this painful as not only isn’t he healthy enough so that they could trade him now, he’s probably stuck here for the last year with much diminished production when he can hit the ice. But when he was scoring 25 goals the contract was ok.
Players themselves talk all the time about locker room chemistry so I hardly think that concept is outdated. Overestimated, probably, but still a factor.
Maybe the best way out is to give him a nice retirement goodbye, like at the final/fan appreciation game, then place him on LTIR next year. Let him get started on his future media career early. Wipe hands on pants