The Washington Capitals have re-signed T.J. Oshie to an eight-year, $46 million contract.
The contract is the longest deal on the team.
“T.J. is an invaluable member of our team and we felt it was imperative for us to re-sign him in a competitive free agent market,” general manager Brian MacLellan said. “T.J. is a highly competitive player with a tremendous skill set; he epitomizes the kind of player our team must have in order for us to continue to put ourselves in a position to compete in this League.”
Oshie, 30, has 59 goals and 48 assists in 148 regular season games with the Capitals. In each of the last two years, Oshie has set career highs in goals scored. Most recently, Oshie scored 33 goals this season, the first time in his career he reached the 30 goal mark. Oshie also led the league in shooting percentage, scoring on 23.1 percent of his shots this season.
The deal comes in at a $5.75 million cap hit, which would seem a bit low given Oshie’s offensive production and overall role with the team. However, at the age of 30, an eight-year deal allowed the Capitals to settle on a lower cap hit.
According to CapFriendly, Oshie’s deal includes a no trade clause in all eight years of the contract: A 15-team no trade list in the first four years of the contract and a 10-team no trade list in the final four years.
Oshie’s re-signing almost assures the forward Justin Williams will not return to the team.
The Capitals have five restricted free agent contracts to settle this offseason. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov are set for a much larger deal, while Andre Burakovsky may find a decent pay raise, but a bridge deal seems likely. Brett Connolly and Philipp Grubauer also need new contract.
Credit to Craig Robinson for the super catchy title.