The St. Louis Blues traded star forward T.J. Oshie on July 2, 2015 to the Washington Capitals for Troy Bouwer, goaltender Phoenix Copely and a third-round pick in 2016. He would go on an win a Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Caps, and the Blues followed suit a year later claiming their first Stanley Cup in 2019.
On Mathew and Brady Thachuk's weekly podcast, "Wingmen", he spoke on the trade that shook up his entire career and had some very interesting thoughts on it. Take a listen.
“I was upset until my retirement speech … I wanted to retire a Blue.”
— Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk (@Wingmenpod) February 2, 2026
T.J. Oshie didn’t take his trade from St. Louis to Washington lightly 😥 pic.twitter.com/b84o8FqS1z
"I wanted to retire a Blue"
That has to be the most compelling thing out of this dialogue, as Oshie certainly did give his all for the team that took a chance on him in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He was a cornerstone piece, and there is a very good chance that the 2019 Stanley Cup victory would have still happened with No. 74 out there.
It is interesting that he still had some animosity after being traded away, and it showed up on the scoresheet. In nine career games against the Blues, he had five goals and four assists, for nine points. This Included a hat-trick on January 18, 2024, and it would be his last of seven hat-tricks that he had in his career.
To hold that much of a grudge until the day you retire is some deep wounds. The Blues had to do what was best at the time, but looking back, it did not make much of a difference. It really only helped Washington, who were grateful for Oshie to come in and man the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
Nowadays, Oshie is shooting commercials for the Super Bowl and adding some commentary on NHL broadcasts. The door is not closed for him to return to the Blues in a front office role, which, presumably, he would agree to.