Home / News / Capitals re-sign TJ Oshie to eight-year, $46 million contract

Capitals re-sign TJ Oshie to eight-year, $46 million contract

By Ian Oland

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June 23, 2017 5:40 pm

You guys, TJ Oshie is back. And he will be a Washington Capital until he’s 38-years-old.

Friday afternoon, after rumors surfaced that the Chicago Blackhawks would be interested in the right wing’s services, the Capitals announced they had re-signed Oshie, who tied for the team lead in goals last season (33), to an eight-year, $46 million deal. Oshie’s contract will pay him an average annual value of $5.75 million.

Oshie spent almost the entire year skating with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin on the first line and was a big contributor on the team’s first-unit power play.

“T.J. is an invaluable member of our team and we felt it was imperative for us to re-sign him in a competitive free agent market,” MacLellan said in a release. “T.J. is a highly competitive player with a tremendous skill set; he epitomizes the kind of player our team must have in order for us to continue to put ourselves in a position to compete in this League.”

The risk with this contract is that the immensely popular Oshie is coming off a career year, which is unlikely to be duplicated.

Per Peter’s season review:

Oshie’s 137 percent increase in 5-on-5 scoring from last season was exhilarating, but it was the function of a near-tripling of his shooting percentage (26.1, up from 9.2 a season ago). Oshie’s underlying numbers – his actual individual shot rate – actually declined, but maybe that’s to be expected when you score on one of every four shots.

I mean – don’t get me wrong: Oshie is a deadly sniper, but no one is this deadly. This is not a repeatable performance. Oshie did not all of a sudden figure out how to literally double his accuracy (his all-situation shooting percentage over the last 7 seasons is 11.8, but it was 23.1 this year). Oshie’s finishing will regress hard next season. That coupled with a likely age-related decline in volume will make it difficult for Oshie to score even 20 goals.

Oshie is also entering the backend of his career where a steep regression normally occurs.

That’s depressing, but at least for today, let’s party. TIMOTHY JIMOTHY’S BACK, Y’ALL.

More from the Capitals:

The Washington Capitals have re-signed right wing T.J. Oshie to an eight-year, $46 million contract, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

In 148 career games with the Capitals, Oshie has earned 107 points (59g, 48a). Oshie, 30, registered 56 points (33g, 23a) in 68 games with the Capitals last season, recording career highs in goals and plus/minus (+28). The 6’0”, 189-pound right wing led the NHL in shooting percentage (23.1%) in 2016-17 and ranked seventh in the NHL in plus/minus. His 33 goals marked the first time a Capitals player other than Alex Ovechkin scored 30 goals in a season since 2009-10 (Alex Semin: 40, Nicklas Backstrom: 33). Oshie recorded his third career hat trick and tied his career high with four points (3g, 1a) on March 18 at Tampa Bay, marking his fifth-career four-point game and second of the 2016-17 season (Nov. 16 vs. Pittsburgh: 2g, 2a). On March 28 at Minnesota, Oshie scored two goals, marking his 16th career multi-goal game. He has recorded nine multi-goal games in 148 games with Washington after recording seven in 443 games with St. Louis. The Capitals were 27-3-2 last season when Oshie earned a point and are 54-7-6 all-time in games when he records a point.

During the 2015-16 season, Oshie recorded 51 points (26g, 25a) in 80 games with Washington. He set a career high in power-play goals (11) and tied his career high in games played (80) and game-winning goals (5). Oshie ranked second on the team in goals and power-play goals in 2015-16, third in game-winning goals, tied for fourth in plus/minus (+16) and fifth in points. In addition, he ranked third among Capitals forwards in hits (134). The Everett, Wash., native has recorded 417 points (169g, 248a) in 591 career NHL games with St. Louis and Washington. Oshie was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the first round, 24th overall, in the 2005 NHL Draft and ranks sixth among players drafted in 2005 in points and seventh in goals and assists.