The NHL Trade Deadline is still a week away (next Friday at 3 pm) but Bruins GM Don Sweeney is already making things happen as he swung a three-team deal tonight along with the Capitals and the Wild. Boston acquired defenseman Dmitry Orlov and right wing Garnet Hathaway while in return Washington received right wing Craig Smith, a 2023 first-round draft pick, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round draft pick. Additionally, the Caps will retain 50% of Orlov's salary. Minnesota sent the rights to forward Andrei Svetlakov to the B's and they will retain 25% of Orlov's salary in exchange for Boston's 2023 fifth-round pick.
After tonight's awesome 6-5 comeback win in Seattle (32-20-6), the Black and Gold (44-8-5) continue to earn points at a record setting pace which is nice and all but the postseason in hockey is all that really matters. If you have seen any Bruins-Capitals games in recent years, you are well aware of who Hathaway (a Kennebunkport, ME native and Brown alum!) and Orlov are since they both seem to always play well against Boston. From all accounts, Smith is a great guy but his time here was pretty forgettable with only 33 goals and 45 assists over parts of three seasons. Boston is tight to the salary cap so his name had floated around recently in many trade rumors since he was the most obvious part of the NHL club that could be moved.
A left-shot defenseman in the prime of his career at age 31, Orlov is capable of being on a second pairing for a playoff team. The Capitals (28-26-6) have been a bit of a mess so far this campaign but Orlov has not been the issue with three goals and 16 assists in 43 games. He was a second-round draft pick in 2009 (55th overall) and in 686 regular season games, he's amassed 60 goals and 196 assists with a very impressive plus/minus of plus-104. He also as a ton of playoff experience (74 games) with two goals and 21 assists in that time. Perhaps most importantly, he is big enough (5-foot-11 and 214 pounds) to withstand the grind of playoff hockey.
Speaking of which, Hathaway at 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds is just the type of guy that you hate to play against when the games count the most. He is tough and competes with an edge which the Bruins can always use. After being undrafted, he has carved out a nice little NHL career with four seasons in Calgary followed by parts of four in our nation's capital. He only missed one game for the Capitals this season and put up nine goals and seven assists along with a plus/minus of plus-6. He is not afraid to drop the gloves as evidenced by his 52 penalty minutes in 2022-23 and 473 in his NHL life. Boston's bottom six forwards have been solid (along with basically every other facet of this juggernaut regular season team) but Hathaway is undoubtedly an upgrade over Smith in like every possible way.
Sweeney could make another move(s) but if he does not, this is at least a step forward from where their roster was before today. Boston has been said to be in the mix for Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun and Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov but needless to say, it will take much more to obtain probably the two most coveted guys outside of Blackhawks icon Patrick Kane. This evening was the start of a four-game West Coast/Canada road trip for the Bruins that continues in Vancouver (23-30-5) on Saturday night (7, NESN) followed by a back-to-back in Edmonton (8:30, NESN) on Monday then ending with a visit to Calgary (27-20-12) on Tuesday (9, NESN). Either way the team will look different when they return home to TD Garden to take on the Sabres (29-23-4) on Thursday (7, NESN).
