Seattle Native TJ Oshie Does Not Want To Join Expansion Kraken Franchise
TJ Oshie was born and bred in Seattle but he has no interest in joining the upstart Kraken franchise. The expansion draft is coming with the Kraken set to join the NHL this upcoming season. Joining the Kraken is going to be a hard pass for Oshie. He would much rather stay with the Capitals.
“I guess I’ve given thought to the possibility (of playing in Seattle), but my allegiance is here,” Oshie said. “I’ve done, I feel like, as much as I can to prove that this is where I want to be. So I’ve got family out there, you know, that’s great, but Washington is where I want to be. This is where I’ve bled and cried, everything here. And this is where I want to stay for the long term. People can speculate and they can make assumptions about what I want to do or what I would like, people bring up [becoming Seattle captain], that stuff’s not that important to me. This is where I want to be with my buddies, with my family, my kids are growing up in schools here. This is where I love to play hockey.”
“I signed an eight-year deal here because this is where I want to spend the rest of my career and retire here,” Oshie said. “I know there’s a business side of things and there’s a reality when it comes to pro sports, team sports in particular, that there’s always a chance that you could go somewhere else or get traded or whatever, but I’ve approached every day since I’ve been here like this is going to be the last team that I ever play for.
“And I think I’ve done a decent job of proving that to [coach Peter Laviolette] and [general manager Brian MacLellan] that this is where I want to be, and I feel like I can still be a big part of this team moving forward as I get older here. [I] had one of the better years scoring, I think, this year, so I don’t feel like I’m slowing down at all and I’m looking forward to bringing another Cup to D.C.”
The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, which will take place July 21 where Seattle will have a chance to finally build their roster. The Kraken will select one player from each team excluding Vegas for a total of 30. Oshie may not want to join Seattle but it remains to be seen what happens.
Washington has to open cap space for the new Alex Ovechkin contract and dumping Oshie to the new Seattle franchise would be one way to do so. Especially after being bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Bruins. The Caps have some decisions to make.
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