The Washington Capitals were on the ice for their morning skate ahead of its game against the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. Veteran forward TJ Oshie was not present after suffering a non-contact injury in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Thursday.
Per Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir, the Capitals are calling Oshie “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury. That timeline is in line with what head coach Spencer Carbery said of Oshie during the road trip.
The team’s media site also now lists Oshie as on injured reserve. He joins Martin Fehervary and Nic Dowd on IR.
The designation of an upper-body injury along with the way Oshie was hurt raises alarm as the 37-year-old forward has had well-documented issues with his back over the past few years. Oshie has missed significant time due to the injury, notably undergoing a procedure on his back last spring. He has missed 18 games so far this season and made a trip up to Minnesota in December to get treatment from his chiropractor.
This recent spell out of the lineup comes at a very inopportune time as Oshie is just four games away from hitting the 1,000-game mark in his career. To soothe some fans’ concerns after the way he left the game against the Lightning, Oshie took to Twitter to provide some reassurance.
Oshie is on pace for his fourth straight season playing under 60 games. The 37-year-old has one year remaining on his contract after this one with a $5.75 million cap hit.
The Capitals recently recalled Pierrick Dubé, Hendrix Lapierre, and Ivan Miroshnichenko to provide depth up front due to injuries to Oshie, Dowd, and Anthony Mantha. Dubé made his NHL debut against the Florida Panthers after Oshie went down the game prior.
