ARLINGTON, VA–TJ Oshie has spent much of the 2023-24 NHL campaign battling injuries, playing in just 21 of the Capitals’ 38 games this season. After an 11-game absence beginning December 17, Oshie is expected to return to play Thursday against the Seattle Kraken.
During his extended recovery, Oshie briefly left the team, flying to Minnesota to receive treatment. He discussed his recent trip after practice on Wednesday, revealing that the visit was far from his first mid-season trip back home.
“I’ve done it five or six times here in the last two years. So it’s nothing different, it’s just this time you guys found out about it,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, it’s a 24-hour trip.”
After playing the night before against the Nashville Predators, Oshie pulled out of a December 17 game against the Carolina Hurricanes at the last minute after sustaining an injury during his pre-game preparations.
“It was during warmups, so it was unfortunate,” he said. “I think it was a shock to everyone, myself included.”
Oshie, now 37, is no stranger to injuries. He played just 58 games last season–an improvement from his 44-game season in 2021-22–and underwent a procedure on his back during the offseason.
Before his most recent absence, Oshie missed a six-game stretch from November 27 to December 7 after a collision with Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm. Though listed as an upper-body injury at the time, Oshie confirmed Tuesday that he sustained a concussion in that game while discussing the difficulties of missing so much time.
“The timing of these kind of couple of injuries I’ve had has been kind of rough with the Christmas break getting in the way and then with the concussion, the guys being out west, so I didn’t really have anyone to skate with,” he said. “So it’s nice to be back.”
Oshie returned to practice as a full participant on Tuesday. Carbery slotted him in on the second line on Wednesday, alongside Max Pacioretty and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Though Oshie said that a return against Seattle would be the “best-case scenario,” both reporting from his wife Lauren and head coach Spencer Carbery’s comments after practice indicate that he’ll definitely be back in the lineup.
“He should be ready to go,” Carbery said.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
