Well into his thirties now, TJ Oshie remains a productive and exciting player who will almost definitely remain with the Caps until the end of the 2025 season, right?!
By the Numbers
| 69 | games played |
| 18.3 | time on ice per game |
| 26 | goals |
| 23 | assists |
| 49.8 | 5-on-5 shot-attempt percentage, adjusted |
| 49.3 | 5-on-5 expected goal percentage, adjusted |
| 52.3 | 5-on-5 goal percentage, adjusted |
Visualization by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows lots of information for the player over the season. A short description of each chart:
- Most common teammates during 5-on-5
- Ice time per game, split up by game state
- 5-on-5 adjusted shot attempts by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- 5-on-5 adjusted shooting percentage by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- Individual scoring events by the player
- 5-on-5 adjusted offensive (black) and defensive (red) zone starts
Peter’s Take
Just a warning ahead of time: we’re not going to use the words Se*ttle or Kr*ken anywhere in this article. They are forbidden.
It’s hard to think of TJ Oshie as anything except a success story. In addition to a winning and winsome attitude, Oshie has done pretty much everything right since joining the Caps. He plays a style that coaches and players love, he adds reliability to his more error-prone teammates, and he puts up a lot of points. And he’s done it for a long time.
Like, this is not a normal aging curve. Every season, Oshie hits the ice and humbles his foolish detractors by hitting the back of the net a lot. He almost certainly would have hit 30 goals if not for the pandemic, Pat.
But goals aren’t everything, and due diligence requires we look at how the Caps tilted the ice during Oshie’s shifts. He’s below 50 percent in shot attempts and expected goals, yikes.
Not so fast, dude. Oshie, like fellow winger Tom Wilson, roughly split his time this season with the team’s two ostensibly top-six centers.
Both wingers slayed when playing Backstrom, and both were completely caved in when with Kuznetsov. Oshie and Kuznetsov together were dead-on the Mendoza line, a reversal of a once-positive effect Oshie used to have on Kuznetsov.
This isn’t an isolated thing with Oshie as we discussed on Friday, but I want to hang a big asterisk on him and Wilson when looking at season-long numbers. Not all ice time on the 2019-20 Capitals was equal.
Anyway, Oshie rules. He should play Nicklas Backstrom a lot. I’m really looking forward to what he will do for the Caps next season and *turns up stereo* the three seasons after that *turns up stereo even louder* sorry can’t hear you — music is too loud.
Tustin Jimberlake on RMNB
- Let’s start with a rundown of pregame rituals: With Ovi sound effects, doing it from the penalty box, breaking a stick on Tom Wilson’s firm ass, doing that again but at warp speed, synchronization with the boys on several occasions. In March he broke them all down for Men in Blazers.
- Like, in the bubble, Oshie had to keep his pregame ritual going, so he threw a puck to an imaginary fan.
- There was some baseball synergy, including Oshie winning a bet with ex-teammate Barret Jackman, chugging a beer with the Nats,
- In November, Oshie stole a hat trick from Evgeny Kuznetsov. Brilliant.
- Hey, did you know that Oshie is good at the shootout?!
Osh does Osh things in the shootout #CapsFlyers pic.twitter.com/7JkxbEDtFC
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 14, 2019
- One emerging trend from 2019-20 is the close friendship between Oshie and Jakub Vrana. There were several installments in this story, including some choreography.
- RIP Charlie McAvoy.
- After Evgeny Kuznetsov did that dumb dumb move, TJ Oshie helped along that amazing comeback against the Sharks.
- You monsters deprived TJ Oshie of a vacation, forcing him to go to the All-Star Game as the Last Man In, where he scored and waved to his father.
- Oshie’s got jokes.
- In February, Sidney Crosby tried to steal Oshie’s stick from the bench. Crosby’s defense was tr*mpian in my opinion.
- The Oshies welcomed Campbell Richard to the family in March.
- TJ doesn’t like “Kraken.” Hmm. About that. Hmmmmm.
- Oshie did one of those playoff moments that would have been legendary if the Caps didn’t flame out.
Your Turn
Could anything possibly go wrong in TJ Oshie’s next few seasons with the Washington Capitals? Nope? I agree. Why not though?
Read more: Japers Rink
