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Capitals re-sign Oshie for eight years, $46 million

Washington Capitals v Boston Bruins

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 05: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals looks on during the second period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on January 5, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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T.J. Oshie will be staying with the Washington Capitals for a very, very long time.

The team announced on Friday evening that it has signed the veteran forward to an eight-year contract that will pay him an average annual salary of $5.75 million.

That comes out to a total dollar amount of $46 million.

“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 in a statement released by the team. “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 is coming off of a career year for the Capitals that saw him score 33 goals to go with 28 assists in only 68 games.

While the team is almost certainly ecstatic to bring him back (and better off in the short-term), that eight-year commitment could be a risky one long-term. While Oshie is still a top-line player and was one of the most productive forwards in the league this past season, he is also already 30 years old. Giving that much term to a player that has already celebrated his 30th birthday usually ends up becoming an issue before the contract expires. But that is still pretty far down the road, and the Capitals are a better team in the short-term with him back in the mix. If he proves to be an essential ingredient in maybe bringing a Stanley Cup to Washington, they certainly won’t complain about maybe having to deal with a bad contract in five or six years.

In two years with the Capitals he has 59 goals and 48 assists (107 points) in 148 games.

His re-signing with the Capitals also puts a pretty significant dent in the upcoming free agent class as Oshie was looking to be one of the most sought after players on the open market.

On Friday, shortly after the Blackhawks overhauled their roster, there was speculation they might make a run at him as a potential Artemi Panarin replacement. Obviously, they will have to now look elsewhere. With Oshie no longer available the biggest names that could be available would be Alexander Radulov (assuming he and the Montreal Canadiens can not come to terms) or Ilya Kovalchuk (if he makes a return to the NHL).