The Washington Capitals placed veteran winger TJ Oshie on injured reserve on Tuesday. Oshie was a late scratch before the team’s game in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday due to a lower-body injury.
The missed game was Oshie’s seventh of the season after he was taken out of action for six games with an upper-body injury in late November. In 21 games this season, the 36-year-old forward has just four points (2g, 2a).
Oshie will join fellow injured winger Sonny Milano on the team’s injured reserve. Head coach Spencer Carbery revealed in his post-practice media availability on Tuesday that neither player is expected to get back into the lineup before the Christmas break.
In Oshie’s last game, he skated 18:51 of ice time against the Nashville Predators and finished the game without any clear sign of injury. He scored a goal in the contest, his first since returning from injury back on December 9.
Oshie had played in all 17 of the team’s games before suffering a scary, upper-body injury after taking a high hit from Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm. Now, he’s back on the shelf again in what has become an all too common occurrence.
The former 30-goal scorer has been kept off the ice for more than 60 games in the past two seasons prior to this one. Oshie underwent core surgery two summers ago and faced further setbacks with that during the 2022-23 season. He then developed lingering back problems after playing through a broken foot, leading to three extended absences from the team.
Oshie underwent a “minimally invasive procedure” on his back, a double ablation, after the season ended to relieve his pain there. He also completely stopped playing golf, one of his main hobbies, to ensure that he could keep his back in good shape.
“I feel great. I feel strong. I feel good. I feel healthy,” Oshie said at the start of Training Camp. “There’s no second guessing by me out there.”
Given Carbery’s estimate for how long Oshie and Milano will be out of action, the first game we could expect to see one of them back would be December 27 against the New York Rangers. The Capitals will have an open roster spot due to waiving Lucas Johansen on Monday.
Oshie being placed on IR and forward Joe Snively being returned to Hershey freed up an additional two roster spots which the team filled on Tuesday morning. Rookie forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre were recalled by the Capitals and inserted into Tuesday’s practice lineup.
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