TJ Oshie believed he was going to be a lifetime St. Louis Blues player after he learned a deal to trade him to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2015 NHL Draft fell through. On a recent episode of the “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast, Oshie opened up about the whirlwind of emotions he felt when he learned the team that drafted him decided to still ship him out of town the very next day anyways.
“I had been told that there [was] a chance I was gonna get traded to Pittsburgh at the draft. I was told the deal was in the works and then it didn’t go through,” Oshie recounted. The Penguins instead landed right winger Phil Kessel in a blockbuster deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I knew once they got a right winger that I wasn’t going,” Oshie continued. “So I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna retire as a Blue, live here the rest of my life, just like all the old Blues do.’ And I was super proud of that, happy about that.”
The Washington Capitals then struck a deal for Oshie in which they sent forward Troy Brouwer and goalie prospect Phoenix Copley to St. Louis. It was a life-altering day for Oshie, who at the time lamented being rejected by the team that drafted him.
“I was really let down. I felt like I let like the whole city down, right? Because they treated me so well. I took so much pride in being a Blue,” he described. “I guess maybe [it was] the first time in my life I really felt defeated… But it was only [for] like 10 minutes because once [Capitals GM] Brian MacLellan called me, I’ve never heard anyone more happy that I was gonna join the organization.”
Oshie remembered feeling a total shift in his perspective on the trade once MacLellan essentially confirmed he was going to primarily be playing with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
“He was so excited. I could tell he didn’t want to tell me on the phone that they wanted me to play with Ovi and Backy, but he was kind of hinting at it. And that just got me jacked up,” he recalled excitedly. “The rest is kind of history.”
History, indeed. Oshie went on to lift the Stanley Cup with the franchise three seasons after arriving in DC and scored the second-most goals (192) by any Caps player during his nine seasons here, trailing only Alex Ovechkin (422). He credits that individual success to the freedom the Caps coaching staff allowed him on the ice.
“It was cool walking in there and having even the coaches [say], ‘With the puck, do whatever you want. We have no rules… When you’re on defense, you play our systems like you know them, you play them and that’s mandatory. But when you have the puck, use your imagination and go have fun.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ I didn’t think the NHL was like this,” Oshie said, referencing his experience in the Blues’ rigid offensive system.
The now-38-year-old father of four retired from the NHL not as a Blue but a Capital in July. He made sure to thank both clubs in his farewell speech.
