Washington Capitals: 2019 predictions for T.J. Oshie
One injured Washington Capitals player was back skating with his teammates. T.J. Oshie has come a long way.
Washington Capitals right winger T.J. Oshie had been rehabbing his broken collarbone throughout the summer. Having suffered that injury at a critical time, Game 4 with Washington still ahead 2-1 in the series on the Carolina Hurricanes. It was a cheap shot that altered the series.
It wasn’t the sole reason the Capitals bowed out that spring but it was a contributing factor nonetheless. Oshie, however, benefitted from a long offseason and is determined to help lead the Caps back to the Stanley Cup.
Oshie is coming off his third best offensive season of his career with 25 goals and 29 assists for 54 points. Oshie was fifth on the team in points and assists and second in goals behind Alex Ovechkin.
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18 of Oshie’s goals came on five-on-five while four were game-winners. Oshie added a goal and an assist in four playoff games before his season came to an abrupt end in Game 4 thanks to a hit by Warren Foegele.
Oshie watched the Capitals lose Game 7 in double overtime from the press box and faced a summer of rehabbing. Come July, Oshie finally returned to the ice taking part in informal skates leading up to training camp. Now, he’s a full go.
“Yeah, shoulder is 100%. Got some new hardware in there so I don’t think this one is going to break anytime soon, knock on wood. I’m all good. I’m ready to go,” Oshie told reporters at media day.
Oshie’s injury did play a factor in the Capitals squandering a 2-1 series lead to the Hurricanes but the loss did humble Washington in a good way. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise to fly under the radar. Oshie said this to the media Thursday:
“It’s fun to kind of feel like you have to go out and prove something again whereas before you were on top and you’re trying to find a way to stay there and maintain it. Now we gotta get better and improve on last year so it’s a different feeling coming in this year so I think that’ll be good for us,”
I predict Oshie will get some playing time in the second or third preseason game and will be in the lineup in St. Louis on opening night. That’ll be a cool experience for Oshie playing against his old team.
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He’ll contribute on offense as well as the power play and PK but the question is will he be able to play fully healthy for an 82-game season. It’s something he hasn’t done since his first season with the Caps but will look to get back to that health again. He’ll score double digit goals but will he get to 20?