For just the 4th time in the Alex Ovechkin era, the Washington Capitals missed he playoffs last season. They plan to do everything in their power this season to avoid that happening again, but if they want to remain competitive, they may be required to make some changes.
The Capitals play in an ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division, which is extremely top-heavy with the likes of the Hurricanes, Rangers and Devils to compete with, but the Pittsburgh Penguins also got better over the summer, which puts the Caps at risk of not making the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
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. Former NHLer, Colby Cohen, reveals that he believes that T.J. Oshie may be one of the players whom Washington may be willing to move. Oshie has one more year on his contract following the 2023-24 campaign at a cap hit of $5.75 million.
Oshie scored 19 goals and added 16 assists for a total of 35 points in 58 games for the Caps last season. He has had a tough time staying healthy over the better part of the last decade and at nearly 37 years old, he's not getting any younger. It might make sense for the Capitals to finally move on from the veteran winger, who is now entering his 9th season in Washington.
