The double ablation Oshie underwent in April 2023 helped somewhat, but it was never intended to be a permanent solution, Oshie said at Washington’s season-ending media availability Tuesday.
“It was kind of a short-term fix thing and something that we had tried a couple times throughout the season, and it helped with a couple other things,” Oshie said. “But my issue is there’s not just one problem back there. There’s multiple things that we’ve got to find an answer for.”
If Oshie is unable to find an answer, his time with the Capitals may be over. The 37-year-old, who has been Washington’s talisman since he was acquired from the St. Louis Blues in 2015, wants to keep playing. He just doesn’t know whether it will be possible.
What’s clear is that Oshie doesn’t want to go through another season walking a tightrope as he did this year. He missed 30 games in the regular season, some because of a concussion in November and the rest because of his ongoing back issues.
“In my mind, it would be hard for me to ever for sure say that I’m stepping away from the game,” Oshie said. “I’d love to play next year, but I will need to come back with somewhat of a guarantee that my back won’t be — it’s hard putting everyone through the situation, from my family at home to the team trying to figure out a lineup to young guys getting called up and going down. I’d like to find an answer and a fix to the problem before I make another run at it.”
Washington General Manager Brian MacLellan said the organization will support Oshie — whatever he decides.
“I thought he played well at the end,” MacLellan said. “To go through what he did physically was impressive to watch. I don’t know how long you want to keep doing that, but he’ll take some time here and see where he’s at physically, possible solutions for that and see how it works out.”
Oshie stepped to the podium for his news conference wearing a white T-shirt, a backward hat and sandals — and a black brace on his left hand, which was broken on a hit by New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe in the second period of Game 3.
Broken hand, bad back and all, Oshie still suited up for Game 4. He played 18:29, the second most among Washington’s forwards, and did what he could to try to keep the Capitals’ season alive. Compared with his chronic back issues, playing through the broken hand was of little concern.
“A broken hand is like a hangnail compared to what I go through with my back,” he said.
Oshie, who played his 1,000th NHL game in March, estimated Tuesday that his chiropractor, Kerry Johnson, flew in from Minnesota five times between the Capitals’ game against the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 23 and the end of the season — including one “emergency flight” after Oshie was hit hard by the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin in Game 2.
Center Dylan Strome made several references throughout the season to the amount of preparation Oshie has to do just to get on the ice for practice. He reiterated that after Game 4, saying that the media “would be stunned” at what’s required. Oshie tried to downplay that comment — suggesting Strome was noting Oshie’s hand injury, not his back — but throughout the season and during Tuesday’s media session, Oshie’s teammates’ awe at his determination was a repeated theme.
“No one outside our locker room knows essentially what he has to do every day to make sure his body’s in shape to go compete,” goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “You look at T.J.’s game: He’s not someone that just hops on the ice come game time and just tiptoes around and avoids checks. That’s not his style. He’s a guy that he’s just a true, old-fashioned hockey player, the way he plays.”
“I’m close enough with him to know that it’s not going to be a predictable future for him,” winger Tom Wilson said. “It hasn’t been. He’s been battling and clawing and fighting for every inch, basically fighting for every game at times to get in and just leave it all out there.”
Oshie’s wife, Lauren, and their children traveled to New York for Games 1 and 2 of Washington’s first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Rangers. After the Capitals lost in Game 4 on Sunday, Oshie lingered on the ice for a few extra moments, taking a final lap to wave to the fans and soak it all in.
“I’m 37 years old, so you just never know. Especially the age that my kids are at, you want them to be around, kind of a just-in-case thing,” Oshie said. “My wife, she obviously wants to be there, too, to kind of celebrate and savor those moments. It’s just like anything. When you’re young, you think you’re going to play forever and it’s going to be amazing. And when you get older, you just never know.”
As Oshie discussed the realities of his back problems and his desire to find an answer — leaving unspoken what the outcome will be if he cannot — he was serious but not overly emotional. When he mentioned what it meant to have another chance at playoff hockey, though, his voice choked up and a glassy sheen came to his eyes.
“I didn’t know how many games I would be able to play this year, and obviously I would’ve liked to play more, but for the most part I think I played more than I expected that I was going to be able to,” Oshie said. “I really wanted to get in the playoffs again. There’s nothing like playoff hockey.”
Oshie has one year remaining on his contract, with a salary cap hit of $5.75 million. If he announces his retirement, he would forfeit that salary. The more likely outcome, if Oshie decides his back won’t allow him to play, is that he’ll be placed on long-term injured reserve ahead of next season. That would give Washington cap relief in the amount of his contract, giving MacLellan options in filling Oshie’s gap in the lineup.
“I’m not going to put a date on what he wants to do,” MacLellan said. “I told him we’ll support him in whatever he wants. Seek solutions. If he determines at some point that he feels good, he wants to come back to play, let’s go that way. If he doesn’t, we’ll work it out that way, too.”