Timothy Leif "T. J." Oshie (born December 23, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2005 NHL entry draft, as the 24th overall pick. He then spent the first seven years of his NHL career with the Blues before being traded to the Washington Capitals in 2015. Oshie won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Capitals in 2018.
Oshie was widely considered a shootout specialist in the NHL and is one of the top career leaders in goals scored and scoring percentage since the league adopted shootouts in overtime for the 2005–06 season.
Born in Mount Vernon, Washington, Oshie was raised in Everett, north of Seattle, and was on ice at age five in the Seattle Junior Hockey Association, where he played for ten years. Following his parents' amicable divorce, he lived in Stanwood with his mother Tina and attended Stanwood High School for his freshman year. In 2002, Oshie moved to Warroad, Minnesota, where his parents were originally from, and lived with his father, Tim, and his father's cousin.
He attended Warroad High School, where he was a star player on the hockey team for three seasons, leading the club to two Minnesota State Class A titles in 2003 and 2005. He made the state's All-Tournament Team all three years. With 100 points (37 goals and 63 assists) in 31 games as a senior, he led all Minnesota high school players in scoring, subsequently being named to the 2005 Associated Press and Pioneer Press All-State First Team and finishing as a Minnesota Mr. Hockey Finalist.
At the completion of his senior season with the Warriors in the 2004–05 season, he attended the University of North Dakota, where he played college ice hockey for the Fighting Sioux.
Oshie started his career in the greater Seattle area, playing for the Seattle Junior Hockey Association. He then moved to Warroad, Minnesota when he was in bantam. Following his draft, Oshie played for the University of North Dakota men's ice hockey team in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) for three seasons. Scoring a team-leading 24 goals as a freshman, he added 21 assists for 45 points total. He also set a school record with nine game-winning goals in the season, which also led all NCAA players. At the end of his debut season, he was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team and the WCHA Final Five All-Tournament Team.
In his sophomore year, Oshie improved to 52 points (17 goals and 35 assists), ranking second in team scoring. He earned Third Team All-WCHA and received the Fighting Sioux's Cliff "Fido" Purpur Award, given to the player who demonstrates hard work and determination while generating excitement on the ice. Following North Dakota's WCHA playoff run, Oshie led all players with eight points (four goals and four assists) in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, earning NCAA West All-Tournament honors. He played his last season with North Dakota as a junior, recording 45 points in 42 games.
On May 13, 2008, Oshie opted to forgo his senior season at North Dakota and signed with the St. Louis Blues. He scored his first career NHL goal on October 22, 2008, against the Detroit Red Wings. Oshie quickly became a fan favorite due to his fast and energetic style of play. Playing in 57 games, he scored 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points during his rookie year. At the end of the season, he won the NHL's 2008–09 "Goal of the Year" honors, a fan-voted contest on the NHL's website.
Oshie broke his ankle in a fight with Samuel Påhlsson during a blowout loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets early in the 2010–11 season on November 10, 2010, missing three months due to the injury.
In the 2013–14 season, Oshie had 21 goals and 39 assists for a career-high 60 points.
Washington Capitals and retirement (2015–2025)
On July 2, 2015, Oshie was traded by the Blues to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley and a third-round draft pick in 2016. Oshie wore number 77 for the Capitals, as his previous number 74 was then worn by Capitals defenseman John Carlson. Oshie had a successful first season with the Capitals, often finding himself playing on the Capitals' top line with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Bäckström. Oshie finished the 2015–16 season with a career high 26 goals along with 25 assists for 51 points in 80 games, helping the team win their second Presidents' Trophy. During game one of the Capitals' second round series in the 2016 playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Oshie scored a hat trick, the third goal of which came in overtime, giving the Capitals a 4–3 win. Despite this, the Capitals would lose the series in six games.
In the 2016–17 season, Oshie would further extend his career-high in goals to 33 along with 23 assists for 56 points in 68 games en route to a second consecutive President's Trophy and third altogether for the Capitals but also another second-round playoff loss to the Penguins.
On June 23, 2017, Oshie signed an eight-year, $46 million contract with an annual average of $5.75 million to remain with the Capitals. Oshie saw his production drop to 18 goals, 29 assists and 47 points in 72 games in 2017–18 season but the Capitals as a team remained dominant as they would finish the season as the second seed in the Eastern Conference and once the 2018 playoffs began, Oshie would play a crucial role in the Capitals Stanley Cup victory, scoring 8 goals (including 6 on the powerplay) and 21 points in all 24 playoff games. On June 7, 2018, the Capitals defeated the first-year expansion Vegas Golden Knights in game five of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final for their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. He is one of only 43 players to ever have 6 or more power play goals in a single playoffs.
In a November 7, 2018, game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Oshie was injured twice on the ice and came back to score the winning goal with 1:14 minutes left in the game. Oshie was sent to the training room twice, the first time requiring two stitches to a cut near his left eye created by an opponent's stick. He then took a shoulder check to the head from Evgeni Malkin. On November 14, in a 3–1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Oshie suffered a possible concussion when he was slammed down by the Jets' defenseman Josh Morrissey, who was later fined for unsportsmanlike conduct. Oshie has four reported concussions in his NHL career. After missing 11 games, he returned for a home game against the Detroit Red Wings on December 11, scoring a goal in the 6-2 Caps win. On April 18, 2019, during game four of the first round series between the Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 playoffs, Oshie was severely injured after being cross-checked into the boards by Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele. Later tests revealed the injury to be a broken collarbone, and Oshie was ruled out indefinitely. Oshie ultimately missed the remainder of the series, which the Capitals lost in 7 games.
On January 11, 2020, Oshie was voted into the 2020 National Hockey League All-Star Game – hosted in St. Louis, home of his former team – along with Mitch Marner, Quinn Hughes and David Perron. That season, he led all Eastern Conference players with a 20.8% shooting percentage and 13 power play goals.
On March 16, 2024, Oshie played his 1,000th NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks. During the 2023–24 season, Oshie suffered multiple injuries that kept him out of the lineup for extended periods of time leading up to his 1,000th game, including an upper body injury that potentially could have made him miss the milestone by one game.
After having missed the entire 2024–25 season due to the lingering effects of his prior season's injuries, Oshie announced his retirement from hockey on June 9, 2025.