The Capitals will welcome back winger T.J. Oshie to their lineup tonight against the Rangers as they announced that he has been activated off injured reserve. To make room for him on the active roster, Washington has assigned center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey.
Oshie has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury. However, prior to the injury, things had not been going well for the 37-year-old. Oshie had just one goal and one assist in his first 17 games of the season despite averaging 16:40 per night, nearly the identical ice time compared to a year ago when he collected 35 points in 58 games.
He’s hardly the only veteran Capital to struggle to score this season. Washington enters tonight’s action dead last in the NHL in goals with 56 despite returning most of the same group from last season which finished 20th in the league in scoring.
As for Lapierre, he has spent the bulk of the season so far with Washington following a late-October recall, going in and out of the lineup when needed. Overall, he has played in 11 games with the Caps, collecting a goal and two assists while logging just over ten minutes a night. The 2020 first-rounder also has three assists in six contests with the Bears. As one of only a handful of waiver-exempt players on the roster, he winds up drawing the short straw to return to the minors this time around.