One of the biggest storylines of the Washington Capitals’ roster headed into the offseason is the future of TJ Oshie.
Oshie said on Breakdown Day that he may need to step away from hockey if he can’t solve his reoccurring back injury issues over the summer.
Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan, the man who needs to be in the know most about Oshie’s plans, addressed his concern and support for the 37-year-old forward.
“I met with him,” MacLellan said. “He has — it’s been impressive to watch, or not impressive, but I guess a lot of respect for what he did here, to get to 1,000 games, to get to 300 goals, to help us push into the playoffs, to finish out the year. I thought he played well at the end. To go through what he did physically was impressive to watch. I don’t know how long you want to keep doing that, but he’ll take some time here and see where he’s at physically.”
Last summer, Oshie had a minimally invasive procedure on his back done — a double ablation — to help relieve pain. This season he’s been working closely with Dr. Kerry Johnson of Johnson Spinal Care in Minnesota. Oshie has flown to Minnesota for treatment and had Dr. Johnson fly to him.
His back flare-ups have gotten so bad at times he’s forced to lay “on the floor peeing in water bottles” and has been unable to pick up his four children. The goal this offseason is to find a way to better maintain the issue so that he doesn’t need to go to extreme lengths to get on the ice.
“We’ve gone down the road with a few guys, specialists,” MacLellan said. “I think everybody’s got relationships here, our staff and doctors that are specialized in that area.
“I’m not going to put a date on what he wants to do. I told him we’ll support him in whatever he wants. Seek solutions. If he determines at some point that he feels good, he wants to come back to play, let’s go that way. If he doesn’t, we’ll work it out that way too.”
Oshie played in 52 games this season for the Capitals, six less than the year before. In those games, he recorded 25 points (12g, 13a) which tied a career low in a season where he played 40 or more games.
The jovial, outgoing Oshie has also been credited with creating the winning culture in the team’s locker room. Younger players like Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre have sung Oshie’s praises as a leader from the time they arrived at the big club.
“He’s a driver of our team,” MacLellan said. “I think he brings energy. He brings compete. He brings life. He’s a key part of what we’ve accomplished here.”
The 2018 Stanley Cup champion has one season remaining on an eight-year, $46 million deal he originally signed in 2017. His cap hit is $5.75 million. The Capitals will already have Nicklas Backstrom’s large salary on LTIR to start the season so if Oshie’s big hit is also forced out of action, the team will have plenty of money to spend.
MacLellan has been open about his desire to add to his forward lineup and he says that desire becomes a straight-up necessity if Oshie is deemed unavailable next year.
“Well, I mean, he’s a big part of our team,” MacLellan said. “He’s a top-six guy. So, you have him or you go out and find a guy.”
