A few moments after announcing that Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway would be held out of the lineup for tonight’s game for trade protection purposes, the Washington Capitals have sent both players to the league-leading Boston Bruins.
Heading back to the Capitals is forward Craig Smith, Boston’s first-round pick in 2023, Boston’s third-round pick in 2024, and Boston’s second-round pick in 2025. Washington will retain 50% of Orlov’s remaining salary, while the Minnesota Wild will retain 25% of Orlov’s contract, sending the rights to Andrei Svetlakov to Washington (who actually flipped those rights to Boston in the other part of the deal), and acquiring Boston’s fifth-round pick in 2023.
The NHL’s best team just became much better. With the acquisition of Orlov and Hathaway, the Bruins have cemented themselves as a top Stanley Cup contender and an odds-on-favorite for Lord Stanley. In his 11 seasons in Washington, Orlov became one of the more underappreciated defensemen in the league. Being able to do a little bit of everything, averaging over 100 shots, 100 hits, and over 20 minutes a game, Orlov is a complete player that Boston will now be able to supplant into their already talented defensive core.
Joining him on the New England juggernaut is Hathaway, who is a near-perfect example of what Bruins fans have come to love from their players over the years. A hard-nosed forward, Hathaway can provide depth goal scoring, sufficient work on the penalty kill, and amassing almost 200+ hits every year of his career. If they weren’t already hard enough to play against, Orlov and Hathaway turn Bruins into an even more frustrating opponent for the rest of the league.
Although they only find themselves two points out of a playoff spot, the Capitals’ recent stretch of play has sent them into a bit of a spiral. Losing their last five games in a row, the Capitals seemed to have made a pivot toward selling during this deadline. Still carrying the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson, it is not likely that this will lead to a full-tear down in D.C. However, with so many players headed for unrestricted free agency after this season, and falling further out of the playoff picture, it is only natural that the Capitals recoup some assets from this group.
Having already traded away this year’s third-round selection and next year’s second-round selection in separate trades, the Capitals looked to restock their draft capital in this deal with Boston. After falling out of favor in Boston and clearing waivers earlier this season, Smith can slot into the Capitals’ bottom six for the remainder of the season.
Much like the trade sending Ryan O’Reilly to the Maple Leafs, the Wild were able to involve themselves in this trade as well. With ample deadline cap space, the Wild have now used 2/3 of their retention slots in the last six days to help facilitate deals around the league.
Boston will also receive the rights to Svetlakov, though his inclusion will be overshadowed by the two NHLers. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Draft, Svetlakov has spent the last several seasons playing for CSKA Moscow of the KHL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to report that Hathaway and Orlov were headed to Boston, while Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic first reported Smith and picks would be the return to Washington.
Hell yeah boys
Ovi gonna be pissed!
It’s for the better. They aren’t competing this year. Too many injuries. These guys are free agents next year
Even without the injuries, this isn’t a playoff team. They had these guys healthy for most of the last four years and the decline in regular season results continued steadily and the first round exits due to inconsistent energy and play continued. The only reason their abysmal play down the stretch last year didn’t keep them out of the playoffs is because there was zero competition for that last WC spot. Not making the playoffs this year is a natural progression of what’s been happening over the last four years and it won’t change until there’s a full commitment to a rebuild.
The best thing that can happen to this team at this point is for them to keep losing so the point is driven home with a sledgehammer; this team needs a rebuild. Not a retool, but a rebuild and a full commitment to it to the degree it’s possible… right now and into the offseason. Losing to the bottom feeder Ducks tonight just further emphasizes this. It’s time to build a new core in Washington that will be part of the next championship caliber team. This current core is past it’s prime. It’s time to do what needs to be done here. Ovechkin deserves a better team around him than this. Now’s the time for the Caps to build him one.
I think they’re for sure a playoff team with no injuries. For what it’s worth, on rmnb, they talked about the injuries and how some model said they’d be 2nd best in the east if they had no injuries. I don’t buy it, but that’s what some analytical model said. Anyways, the defense has played better this year. And goaltending is much improved from prior years. They haven’t been able to score which has killed them. Wilson, Backstrom, Brown, Carlson, Oshie, have all missed significant time. That’s not even mentioning Kuzy, dowd, hagelin and Orlov who all missed multiple games for a stretch or 2. The power play has zero righty’s with brown, oshie, Carlson, and Wilson out. I do think this bad year will benefit them long term, as I agree they are an aging team that needs a retool, but I think they still have a good chance to be competitive for a cup during the ovechkin era.
Well, if Ovechkin deserved a better team around him, as you say, it HAS to be a retool. Rebuilding takes time, Ovechkin isn’t getting younger.
Well they just traded Orlov and Hathaway for picks. That’s a rebuild move which will take time to produce whatever value it will produce which is sorely needed. There’s nothing in the minors to be excited about due to poor drafting over many years and the team is too old. Retooling would just be applying bandaids to axe wounds. The commitment to being sellers is the right move and this was a trade for the long term, not for next year. The Capitals need to start thinking about the next era of hockey in Washington without clinging too much to what this team used to be when they won the Cup. It’s not that team anymore.
This should have started two years ago. Kicking the can down the road has consequences and has cost them progress to this end. The team’s performance has declined over the last four years and especially the last two. There are no saviors in Washington.
Also disagree that this is a playoff team without the injuries. They had these guys most of last year and limped into the playoffs with no one nipping at their heels. This team played the best hockey of the year and probably of the last two years in December when they were in the middle of all these injuries. The more of these guys that came back from injury, the worse the team played on the ice. The writing is on the wall and the retool ship has sailed. The team is too old, too slow and isn’t what they were or need to be to be legitimate contenders and it’s not coming back without some major changes. The Isles, Sabres and Red Wings are all better teams as well as everyone else in front of them.
Hopefully this move signifies the readiness to start making those changes even if it hurts a little bit to see guys go. If the right moves are made and drafting is done right, this won’t even hurt that much. They have to be all in though. No half measures. They’ll pay for it in the long run.
I’m not too convinced they have entered a rebuild. Yes, they sold one very good D and one very solid role player. But I just can’t imagine they are entering a rebuild here with Ovechkin still under contract and chasing the record. I think they’ll want to flip Boston’s assets offseason, very much like the Blues are expected to do with what they got in the O’Reilly and Tarasenko trades.
They (both the Blues and Caps) could be trying to do what the Kings did. They did the rebuild, but it was a pretty fast one because it was done right. They made some great trades and built through the draft.
Also Hathaway is probably one of the best fourth liners in the league. Very underrated player. Just the kind of player Boston fans will love.
The only thing that will stop him from getting the record at this point are injuries. I don’t think there’s any way he doesn’t get it considering his track record of durability. There’s also no way this team sniffs another championship while he’s here if the path chosen is that of sacrifice on his behalf. The time to get a jump start on the process is now and shrinking fast. The longer you kick the can down the road, the harder it will be when you eventually are forced to do it.
Two solid pieces. Can’t imagine playing against Hathaway and the rat with their ability to get under your skin. Orlov to me was the most underrated caps. Retool for next year, Caps
So no more gravikov ?
Garnet Hathaway · $1,500,000
Dmitry Orlov ($2,550,000 retained – 50%) · $2,550,000
to Boston for
Craig Smith · $3,100,000
2023 1st round pick (BOS)
2024 3rd round pick (BOS)
2025 2nd round pick (BOS)
You forgot the B’s also got the rights to Andrei Svetlakov
Huge haul for Washington. At the very least they are “retooling”. They should have started a rebuild two years ago, but better late than never.
Bedard to Ovechkin….. Scooooore!
Nice for both sides. Don’t the Bruins have a Hathaway named Chris Wagner?
Hathaway is a better Wagner. I saw a breakdown on Twitter of Hathaway’s advanced metrics and he’s been one of the best 4th liners in the league. We’ll see, but he’s definitely an upgrade over Wags and I love Wags.
This whole thing of sending players to another team to get them to retain salary is such a loophole that the NHL needs to address.
Allow teams to retain more than 50 if need be.
Not a fan of the giving up a 1st from the Bruins standpoint…. but I understand…. always liked Hathaway’s grit. Orlov is good too… which D man loses minutes… Gryz? Clifton? or Forbert?
some combination of forbort/Clifton
.. depending on whom they’re playing I guess.
would have Iiked to see riley’s contract shuffled off too. but this is a solid pick-up.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they move Griz or Clifton
Imo I would move Griz maybe recoup some draft picks maybe 3rd or 4th plus they’d clear almost 5m (well whatever’s left on it this yr) in cap space
Not frigging remotely a fan of this trade. In return for rentals that aren’t all that much of an improvement over what they already have and a wash on salary, Boston unloads picks with an already bare cupboard.
NHA…. I hear you but the Bruins are going for it… This gives them more grit to play against Carolina who I think is going to be a tough out in the Playoffs. Also, personally I would dress 7 D-MEN every playoff game, would love them to work Some one like Clifton on RW on 4th line before the playoff for him to get some experience… last couple years the playoff series they have lost they were playing with 5 D_MEN in many games as Carlo, Grz and even Lindholm got hurt mid game.
They needed toughness for the playoffs these guys will bring that part and more as for the draft picks Sweeney can’t draft for anyways unless someone like McAvoy falls like he did
This is a win for Boston as they are all in. Best record in hockey and they add to a strength. The Defense is now very deep. Just look at the potential pairings. They also add to playoff grit by adding Hathaway. They have a very good chance to win another Stanley Cup and they are rightfully going for it.
I knew this was coming, but it still hurts…
Galikov guess this means he is not going to Boston. Orlov is better player anyway. Wonder now if Galikov is deadmonton bound. lol
The Caps clearly didn’t dig this trade. Got quacked by the Ducks at home.
For the Bruins, this trade was so good on many levels. They unload a bad contract. They get not one, but two impact players. They don’t give up anything valuable. If Sweeney sucks at drafting, why not use that to your advantage? Finally, a good reason to be optimistic for one of my teams. Yay!
3 draft picks aren’t valuable?
Hint: You don’t build a winning NHL team without using the draft. Every Cup winner in the salary cap era has built through the draft
Considering the Bruins roster is still full of homegrown talent kinda steps all over ur point and I would say trading picks is another way to us the draft when are GM can’t draft for the life of him
Plus they still have other players to trade and get some picks back maybe not in the 1st or 2nd rounds guys like Griz, Clifton, Zboril, Steen and Keyser
The caps gave up and they are still in the playoff run….At least even if they are not the same team, they should continue to fight, its a bad message to the players, how they will retain their free agents next summer, bad call for the caps
When your team has lost 6 in a row, and you’re battling 4 other teams to get into the last wild card spot, and all of those teams have games in hand on you, you don’t give a fig about the message you’re sending to the players. You can only care about one thing: what is in the best interest for the team long term? Is it continuing to tread water, in the fading hope that you get a WC spot, or do you get futures for a player who didn’t want to resign, at the terms you’re offering?
Even if the Caps do somehow get a WC, they’ll get destroyed by Carolina or Boston
The team really had no choice. A re-tool at the least, or a full scale rebuild.