There’s “zero chance” Ben McDonald watches ESPN’s NHL coverage. But now ESPN is bringing in someone who might actually get people — not McDonald — to tune in.
T.J. Oshie is joining the network as a studio and game analyst for the 2025-26 season, ESPN announced Thursday. The move comes less than four months after Oshie retired in June following a 16-year NHL career cut short by chronic back injuries.
My dad fell asleep to @SportsCenter almost every night of my childhood. He would have loved this! Can’t wait to get started at @espn https://t.co/F8vOnD2S9l
— TJ Oshie (@TJOshie77) October 2, 2025
Oshie missed all of last season with a chronic back injury. He announced his retirement in June at Washington Harbour, where he and his teammates had jumped into the fountains after winning the Cup in 2018. His last game was in April 2024 when the Rangers swept the Capitals in the first round.
The 38-year-old forward finished his career with 695 points in 1,010 regular-season games split between the Blues and Capitals. He won the Cup with Washington in 2018 and became a national figure during the 2014 Sochi Olympics when he beat Russia in a shootout, converting four of six attempts. That performance turned him into an American hero overnight.
Oshie already got a taste of the ESPN booth during the 2025 playoffs when he served as an analyst for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between Dallas and Edmonton in May. That appearance came while he was still technically under contract with Washington, suggesting he’d been eying this move to the media for a while.
Oshie brings name recognition that extends beyond hardcore hockey fans. His Olympic shootout performance made him a household name, and his nine years with the Capitals established him as a recognizable figure in a major media market. He’s also been active in Alzheimer’s awareness and fundraising since his father, Tim Oshie, died from the disease in 2021.
Whether Oshie can help ESPN’s hockey coverage remains to be seen. But at least they’re trying to bring in someone who knows the game and has earned the right to talk about it. That’s more than Ben McDonald can say.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.