Over the past decade or so, there's been a plethora of elite American-born hockey players that have developed as top stars in the National Hockey League. Amongst those players, TJ Oshie has been one of the most consistent and exciting players to watch, and I would even go as far to say he could be considered a "posterboy" for American hockey. 

Oshie was drafted in the mega-loaded 2005 NHL Entry Draft in the first round with the 24th overall pick by the St. Louis Blues. In just about any other draft year Oshie would likely have been taken much earlier, but the talent pool was loaded thanks to the prior year's draft being cancelled thanks to the lockout. 

After being drafted, Oshie opted to finish his education and play two more season for the University of North Dakota. After wrapping things up there, in the fall of 2008 he was off to Blues' training camp with hopes to crack the roster for opening night. The Blues were undergoing a youth movement at the time and were starting usher in many of their young prospects. 

Alongside fellow rookies like David Perron, Patrik Berglund, and Alex Pietrangelo, Oshie enjoyed a solid debut with the Blues. In 57 games, Oshie notched 14 goals and added 25 helpers for 39 points. Oshie quickly became a fan favorite in St. Louis as fans gushed over his high-end speed and energetic play. One of his goals in his rookie season was even nominated as goal of the year as he carved apart the Vancouver Canucks defense and then outwaited goaltender Roberto Luongo for a jaw-dropping goal. 

Oshie continued to produce at a pretty steady pace, but early in the 2010-11 season Oshie hit a roadblock when he broke his ankle during a fight with Sami Pahlsson. Unfortunately for Oshie and the Blues, this caused a three-month absence. Despite the setback, Oshie came back later that year and regained his form and continued to score at the same pace he had been achieving up to this point. 

Oshie continued his time with the Blues and became known for his consistent play. After a lockout-shortened campaign in 2012-13, the 2013-14 season proved to be a breakout year. For the first time in his career, Oshie got over the 20-goal plateau, hitting 21 in total. On top of that he also amassed 39 assists, which to this day is still a career high. This marked the first and only time Oshie would hit 60 points in a season. The Blues and Oshie had found great chemistry alongside linemates Alexander Steen and David Backes, and despite an 111-point campaign, the Blues fell to the Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs.

Outside the terrific year Oshie had for the Blues in the 2013-14 season, he also put himself on the map for his legendary and unforgettable performance in the 2014 Sochi Olympics for Team USA. Oshie put up a respectable 4 points in 6 games, but he will forever be remembered for his performance versus Russia in the round-robin. The game went to a shootout and Oshie buried a goal on Russian netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. Under international rules, if the shootout is not decided after the three rounds, a team may use players repeatedly. Oshie would go on to score on four of six of his shootout attempts, including one that would go on as the game clincher. This crazy game would gain Oshie a ton of merit and cement his reputation as a "shootout specialist". 

2014-15 would prove to be pretty much a carbon-copy of the year previous. Oshie's numbers were pretty much identical across the board. Unfortunately for the Blues, their results were also similar. It was another solid regular season followed up by another first round exit, this time at the hands of the Minnesota Wild. In the offseason, St. Louis brass decided change was needed, and Oshie was shipped to Washington for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley, and a 2016 third-round draft pick.

Oshie was quick to ingratiate himself to his teammates in Washington and in his first season he often found himself playing on the top line with superstars Alexander Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom. Oshie would accumulate 51 points in his debut season with the Caps, He reached a new career high with 26 goals, 11 of which came on the man advantage. 

2016-17 marked another breakthrough for Oshie, as he shattered his previous goal record by burying 32 goals and totalling 55 points. Oshie missed 11 games that season, but his 82-game point pace was 67 that year, which was the best of his career. Although the 32 goals were most impressive, his shooting percentage on the season was 23.1 percent which quite frankly was never going to be sustainable for the future. Nonetheless, Oshie had become a huge part of the Capitals core and in the offseason, management signed him to an eight-year, $46 million dollar contract extension.  

Predictably, Oshie’s numbers went down some the following season, but in hindsight, that's not what fans or the organization will remember. After becoming a notorious playoffs underachiever, the 2017-18 season was finally the year the Capitals managed to break through and capture a Stanley Cup. Oshie proved to be clutch in the playoffs, contributing 8 goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 24 games. 

The lore of Washington-born Oshie grew a ton during that postseason. Already a fan favorite, a story went viral about how Oshie took the Metro to the home games of the Stanley Cup Final in Washington for Games 3 and 4. Hilariously, Oshie borrowed a Metro pass from teammate Matt Niskanen which had insufficient funds, but luckily a Metro staff member recognized Oshie and helped him out to make sure he arrived on time. That same night he buried a goal in the first period. Metro tweeted that if Oshie and the Caps could bring home the Cup, they would make a special Metro pass in his honor.  As they say, the rest is history.

After winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, Oshie's play never waned or wavered. For the next two years, including last season's COVID-shortened stint, Oshie continued to produce at the same clip fans and fantasy owners had become accustomed to. You can pretty much bank on him to score at a pace of 55-60 points per 82 games. This year has been no exception. Through 24 games, Oshie has six goals and 12 assists for 18 points through 24 games.

While six goals may not leap out at you as someone who is a must-add, Oshie is somewhat of a Swiss-army knife, in that he provides a little bit of everything for you. He will chip in a hit or two most games, he's not afraid to sacrifice himself and make the occasional blocked shot, and he will even get you a couple draws if you are in a league that tracks faceoffs. On top of that, he still holds down time on the first power-play unit for the Caps. He's already racked up eight points on the man advantage this season, which is vastly outpacing his total of 12 from last season. 

You could argue there is room for his goal totals to jump also, as his shooting percentage is down a few percentage points from his last couple of seasons.  Another trend that bodes in his favor is his offensive-zone starts percentage has jumped to 65.8%. This is more than a 10 percent increase over any other year in his career, and it indicates he at least being put in a ton of positions to do damage. 

While the Capitals aren't going to be a powerhouse forever, until they show signs of slowing, or they start losing parts of their core, I think TJ Oshie is a player worthy of a roster spot in most formats.  Like most of his teammates, age is definitely a factor worth keeping an eye on. Oshie just turned 34 this past December, but he still seems to have a great engine. Going forward in future seasons it will definitely be something to keep an eye on, as Father Time catches up with pretty much everyone.

Should Oshie be lucky enough to avoid any major injuries, he could have a few more years left of solid productivity. As noted throughout this write-up, Oshie has been a steady producer offensively year after year. When his career someday comes to its conclusion, I think his incredible consistency will be what he is most remembered for.