It's not a long contract by any means, but the Blues locked up forward T.J. Oshie for one more season the day before the free agent frenzy was about to begin. There was some concern over offer sheets and the like, but the Blues put those to rest with their contract worth $2.35 million dollars for one season.
Why so short? Oshie needs to prove himself. When he's on the ice, he's a pinball with skates, capable of amazing moves - he never stops. The problem is that he's never been on the ice for a full 82 games - or anything close to that. Injuries have cut short his previous seasons, so while Blues fans have seen flashes of ability, they haven't been exposed to it consistently. If the fans haven't, the team brass haven't either.
Don't worry. Oshie won't walk at the end of this season. He'll stil be an RFA, so the Blues will be able to re-negotiate his contract. If he stays healthy all year, produces like everyone believes that he can, and doesn't go AWOL from practice, next time this year Oshie could be getting a serious payday. If he likes it here as much as he says, he's got motivation from all areas to have a career season.
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