Washington Capitals rumors: T.J. Oshie would like to return

T.J. Oshie would like to re-sign with the Washington Capitals. But what will it cost and how likely is it? 

The Washington Capitals could be facing some huge changes this offseason. They have multiple unrestricted free agents and none of them are more critical than T.J. Oshie. The forward is coming off a career year, during which he put up a career best 33 goals and 66 points, the second highest total of his career. Oshie would be open to a return to the Capitals, according to the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan.

Obviously, the Caps should try to re-sign him at a reasonable price. This might not be possible, but perhaps Washington has an advantage because they’re the only team who can offer him an eight-year deal. Oshie meshes very well with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and in the playoffs, Andre Burakovsky. Moving forward, maybe the first forward line Caps fans saw in the playoffs could be the first line of the future.

Hockey analytics expert Matt Cane has a method of determining a player’s value. Here’s what he has to say about Oshie.

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I’d include power play goals and assists as opposed to points and probably include primary assists as well. Secondary assists are hard to predict while primary assists are more telling of a player’s playmaking abilities. But this is fairly accurate. In Oshie’s best season, one that he likely won’t replicate away from the Washington Capitals, he’s worth just under $5.5 million before factoring in the open market.

Of course, the open market is a very important factor in determining a player’s worth. It’s hard to see Oshie signing for less than $6 million a year unless he gets an eight year deal. Maybe he doesn’t care about money at this stage in his career, but players tend to be motivated by either winning, money or a combination of the two.

How high would you be willing to go for Oshie? Personally, signing him for eight years is silly. Oshie’s turning 31 in December and he’d be 38 by the time his contract is up. He likely has three to four good years left, but as Caps fans have seen, declines can be quick and ugly. Also, signing Oshie might interfere with Washington bringing back key restricted free agents Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Andre Burakovsky and Nate Schmidt.

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However, if Brian MacLellan can make things work, the Caps are clearly better with number 77 on the team (at least for now). Long-term? Probably not. But if Washington’s loading up for one last Stanley Cup run, signing Oshie makes sense.