T.J. Oshie Traded to Capitals for Troy Brouwer and Pheonix Copley

The Washington Capitals announced Thursday they traded Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley and a 2016 third-rounder to the St. Louis Blues for T.J. Oshie. 

"T.J. is an outstanding skater with a tremendous skill set," said Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan in the press release. "He is a powerful player and has consistent track record of production throughout his career in the NHL. We feel that he complements our core group nicely and can help us get to the next level in achieving our ultimate goal."

Oshie commented on the trade during a press conference, via Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post: "My initial reaction as a little bit of shock, even though I knew it was a possibility."

The deal is a bit surprising from a Blues' perspective. Copley showed promise with the Hershey Bears last year, but he doesn't necessarily help St. Louis win right now. In addition, Brouwer isn't the last piece of the puzzle for a Stanley Cup contender by any stretch. He's also a free agent next summer, so his value to the Blues might be limited to just the 2015-16 season.

TSN's Travis Yost questioned whether the team simply wanted to shake things up without any real idea of how to get better:

Meanwhile, both Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post and Rob Carlin of CSNWashington.com praised the trade for Washington:

The Capitals certainly look to have walked away with the better haul for now.

Oshie registered 55 points (19 G, 36 A) in 72 games last year. Prewitt added that Washington will pay the remaining $9 million left on his current contract, but $4.5 million a year is a reasonable amount as long as Oshie doesn't regress massively during that time.

On its own, adding Oshie doesn't put Washington over the top as it pursues an elusive Stanley Cup. Taken in tandem with its other dealings from the past couple of offseasons, the franchise should, however, be prepared to end its second-round hex in the postseason.

For the Blues, losing Oshie doesn't make them a demonstrably worse team, but they're not exactly stronger because of it, either.