Capitals could explore trading 16-year veteran towards the deadline

The Washington Capitals are trying to turn things around quickly after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time since 2014 and only the fourth time in the Alexander Ovechkin era.

While the team is trying to stay competitive long enough to get Alexander Ovechkin to break Wayne Gretzky's goal record, they're certainly in tough in the Metropolitan Division. It won't be easy this season with the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins all standing in their way of getting a top-three spot in the division.

If the Capitals are out of the playoff race by the time the NHL's trade deadline comes around in early March, there's a possibility that they could offload some pending unrestricted free agents and/or veteran forwards.

One veteran forward that could intrigue teams, according to former NHLer Colby Cohen, is T.J. Oshie, who has one more year on his contract following the 2023-24 campaign at a cap hit of $5.75 million.


Oshie, who turns 37 in December, has seen his production drop off in recent years, but is still capable of being an effective player in a middle-six role, likely on the third line. If the Capitals decide they're willing to move T.J. Oshie, there will be plenty of teams interested in his services, but it'll be interesting to see if Washington will need to retain any salary in order to made a trade possible.

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