Capitals’ T.J. Oshie will not return this season due to upper-body injury

Oshie has been dealing with lingering injuries all season, and experienced a flair up on March 30 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, causing him to leave the game early and keeping him out of the lineup since.

Considering that the Capitals are officially out of playoff contention, it made more sense for the forward to rest and heal for next season, so he was shut down for the final few games of the season. It’s unclear whether or not he will require surgery for this injury or not.

Oshie revealed in a recent interview with the Hockey News that he has minor injuries that he’ll just have to deal with for the rest of his playing career.

“Unfortunately, the rest of my career here, there’s just gonna be some times where I’m just not able to walk for a couple of weeks, and that’s the way she goes,” Oshie told Sammi Silber of the Hockey News.

The only thing disappointing about Oshie’s season has been the injuries, as he’s otherwise produced well with 19 goals, 16 assists and 35 points in 58 games. That puts him on pace for 49 points over a full 82 games, which is about his usual rate, particularly in the later stages of his career.

Oshie has two more years left on his eight-year contract with a $5.75 million cap hit after this season, a contract that he signed in the 2017 offseason after the Caps won back-to-back Presidents’ trophies, and right before they won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2018.

Oshie is a former first round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2005, and spent seven seasons with the Blues before he was dealt to the Capitals in 2015 for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley and a 2016 third round pick that became Garrett Pilon.

The Capitals are dealing with a plethora of injuries, with Alex Ovechkin, Anthony Mantha, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Nic Dowd all also out for Monday’s game against the New York Islanders. However, they can afford to be patient with their injuries with nothing left to play for, as they sit sixth in the Metropolitan Division with a 34-36-9 record.