The trade
Bruins get: Defenseman Dmitry Orlov (50 percent of salary retained from Wild, 25 percent from Capitals), forward Garnet Hathaway, forward Andrei Svetlako
Capitals get: Forward Craig Smith, 2023 first-round pick, 2025 second-round pick, 2024 third-round pick
Wild get: 2023 fifth-round pick from Bruins
Shayna Goldman: The rich get richer. The Bruins were already one of the strongest teams in the league, and somehow they just got even better. Boston could have made a misstep and overpaid for another depth defender who was on the market and would have just slowed this team down. Instead, they found a legitimately good lefty to bolster their blue line. This year’s been a bit tougher so far, but generally, Orlov is a defenseman who can shut down his opponents and stop them from creating offense. With the support of the Bruins around him, his game should be elevated. His play isn’t one-dimensional either; he can be counted on to retrieve pucks in his own zone and help move out of the defensive end with possession; he’s steady with that puck-moving ability and doesn’t often turn it over.
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Hathaway is a good utility forward who can strength a team’s bottom six. He can play tough minutes, recover dump-ins, and win puck battles under pressure. As if Boston needed to get any tougher to play against.
It makes perfect sense that management wants to give the Bruins the best chance possible to capitalize on this season. The Eastern Conference is so strong as it is, and there’s not a ton of clarity on the future of the team’s top-two centers. The surprising part is that it didn’t cost all that much to acquire these players, move out Craig Smith’s contract, and get salary retention for Orlov’s deal to make it all click.
From the Capitals’ perspective, the fact that management recognizes that this team isn’t where they need to be to truly contend is so important. Too often teams just want to reach the playoffs and hope for the best. Instead, Washington’s going to get a few assets on expiring contracts, and figure out where to go from here. These trades won’t stop the team from trying, despite all of their brokenness this year, but it puts them in a better position moving forward. That said… they should have pushed for more back here, and that’s the trouble of packaging assets together.
As for the Wild, they keep leveraging bits of cap space for draft picks. With salary retained on two deals, they can only take on one more. Did they leverage their space to the best of their ability so far? No, but they did stop another Western Conference team from benefiting from Orlov and Hathaway and get something out of it with a future asset.
Bruins grade: A
Capitals grade: B
Wild grade: B+
Sean Gentille: The wildest part of the Bruins’ season, given how great they’ve looked and how many points they’ve banked, is that their roster had a couple bald spots. It seemed weird to pick at those particular nits, and maybe pointless — no team is ever perfect, let alone in the flat-cap world.
But if someone would’ve forced you to find the flaws, the simplest call would’ve been the left side of the defense and the fourth line. And gee whiz, look what they went and did. Adding Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway is what “going for it” looks like. This is how it’s supposed to work.
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Orlov has been underrated for a couple years running. He’s a well-rounded player with positive impacts on both sides of the ice with a track record of puck movement. He starts things, and he does it well. His physicality will be a focal point for some, and it should be. Is he as big as Vladislav Gavrikov, the Blue Jackets defensemen who’d been most closely connected with the Bruins? No — but he’s no less physical, and an all-around better player.
This season, he’s averaging more than 22 minutes of ice time. If he brings that to Boston, great. If they rely on him a little less than the Capitals did, that’s fine, too. He’s a no-doubt, playoff-proven top-four guy who can do everything well; he’s also right-side capable, which will either make Jim Montgomery’s job more complicated or give him some extra options.
Hathaway is a rare beast — a fourth-line banger who holds his own in terms of play-driving and point production. Nine goals in 59 games this season is added value for a guy who’s managed to be top-10 in hits league-wide without constantly chasing the puck. Adding him makes all the sense in the world. He’s a playoff GM’s fantasy.
Was the price high? Absolutely. Boston was always going to have to engage in some cap gymnastics to add meaningfully, and that’s reflected in the cost. But on their end, truly, who cares? This is the best team in the NHL. Nobody hangs banners for prospect pool rankings. (Sorry, Scott Wheeler.) Get better now, and deal with it later. And not for nothing, that package is nearly what the Blue Jackets are reportedly asking for Gavrikov. Boston landed two better players for a similar price.
As far as the Caps are concerned, the return is … fine. Brian MacLellan saw a chance to add a solid package and moved. The Gavrikov rumors probably hurt the perception here, but there’s also a reason he’s still on the Blue Jackets. Credit for striking first. Plus, Smith might be flippable in the next week. It’s adequate work for two pending UFAs. We’ll see what comes next from the Caps, who have nine other UFAs on the roster.
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The Wild paid $88,000 for a fifth-rounder? Cool. They continue to make trades happen, and we salute them for it.
But really, this deal isn’t about them. It’s about the best team in hockey getting better. Good luck to the field.
Bruins grade: A
Capitals grade: B-
Wild grade: B
(Photo of Dmitry Orlov: Jamie Sabau / USA Today)