With Capitals winger T.J. Oshie growing up near Seattle, some have speculated that he could be a potential pick for the Kraken in the upcoming expansion draft with his possible selection helping to free up some much-needed flexibility for Washington. However, the veteran told reporters, including NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, that he’s hoping to not be changing teams this offseason:
So I’ve got family out there, you know, that’s great, but Washington is where I want to be. This is where I’ve bled and cried, everything here. And this is where I want to stay for the long term. I signed an eight-year deal here because this is where I want to spend the rest of my career and retire here.
Oshie is now halfway through that contract and while he has partial no-trade protection, he doesn’t have the no-move clause that’s needed to lock him into one of the Capitals’ seven protected slots for forwards. The 34-year-old is coming off a nice season with 22 goals and 21 assists in 53 games and if he is made available, he certainly could be a tempting choice for the Kraken.
More from the East:
- Following another quick playoff exit, there’s a case to be made that the Penguins should be changing up their long-standing core. However, NBC Pro Hockey Talk’s Adam Gretz argues the opposite, believing that the collapse of the goaltending was their downfall which is a case to change things up there than blowing things up. It will be tricky for Pittsburgh to shake up their goaltending though. With minimal cap space and starter Tristan Jarry making just $3.5MM which is well below what a lot of number ones make, it will be tough to be able to afford a significant upgrade without taking away another key piece from their roster.
- While he was quite sharp in their first-round victory over Washington, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask indicated on an appearance on WEEI (audio link) that he still isn’t feeling fully recovered from the upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for most of Boston’s stretch run. He also indicated that there have been no recent discussions regarding a contract extension as the 34-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
In 19 and 20, the Pens were just outplayed and got their … kicked. Embarrassing losses.
This year, they played really well (as did the Isles) but got a sub .800 save %. Their 1-18 was mostly clicking.
The odds of winning continue to drop, but their best chance remains bringing back this team and hoping for better goaltending*.
What really hurts them is that key older players are likely to be picked for the Olympics. If Sid and Geno were able to rest during that time, we’d have a non-zero chance to sneak out one more Cup win with this group.
*And their best bet to get better goaltending is still Jarry. He was 25-9-3 (or so) this year. He’s won at lower levels. Maybe get a Khudobin type to be a 1B. Not sure how they’d find a wholesale replacement at starter given their assets and cap space.
Just can’t return this team as is. Can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. They say that’s a sign of insanity. Get bigger and heavier in bottom six.perhaps move rust for a bigger top six. Move one or 2 puck moving dmen for bigger defenders.
We didn’t lose because of size, the Isles are smaller.
We lost because Jarry had a .798 sv % and Sorokin had a .943%.
This team is a long shot Cup contender at best, but it did finish in first with a roster that finally had the pieces in the right places after the Carter deal. There is no available move that will return us to elite contender status.
Hope Seattle takes Pettersson or Zucker, trade the other, promote Joseph and Poulin, hope Carter doesn’t retire and find a goalie to pair with Jarry. Take one more run.
Plus they have bigger with skill. Just not experienced. Zahona and Angelo have the size. Thinking both may have bigger rolls to start the season.
I can’t see why the Caps wouldn’t protect Oshie. It isn’t like they are overflowing with forwards that are better than he is. Ovechkin is a free agent & probably won’t be re-signed to after the expansion draft. They’re likely to trade Kuznetzov. That leaves Backstom, Mantha, Wilson and Eller has locks. They’ll likely protect Hagelin & Sheary. Are they going to protect Nic Dowd or Garnet Hathaway over TJ Oshie? Don’t see how that helps the Caps as a team
Opens cap space.
34 with 4 more high priced years. Would guess 2 or 3 of those years are going to be bad
Which is the same reason why Fleury was not protected and Was lost to Vegas. Had they protected Fleury, they would have to dump several players to get under the cap.