Did the Best Team Just Get Better?- Bruins Trade for Orlov and Hathaway
Boston Bruins General Manager, Don Sweeney, is known for big moves at the end of trade deadlines. With March 3rd quickly approaching, fans were anticipating what he had in store for this season. The news broke Thursday night (Feb. 23rd) that the Bs were trading forward Craig Smith and receiving both Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov from the Washington Capitals in a three-team trade with the Minnesota Wild.
In order to keep cap space, Orlov was originally traded to the Wild with 50% of his salary retained by the Caps; then he was traded to the Bruins with 25% of his salary retained by the Wild. The capitals received Craig Smith, a 2023 1st-round pick, a 2025 2nd-round pick, and a 2024 3rd-round pick from the Bruins. The Wild received a 2023 5th-round pick from the Bruins. The Bruins received the rights to Andrei Svetlakov from the Wild and Orlov and Hathaway from the Capitals, both of whom made their Boston debut in 81 and 21, respectively.
Both new acquisitions are expected to help improve the Bruins' already impressive depth. Orlov, a heavy hitter, will be crucial on the backcheck. This season with the Capitals, the defenseman had 88 hits, 62 blocks, and 20 takeaways. He also contributed three goals and 16 assists for 19 points and a +/- of 2. In his debut with the Bruins, Orlov added two hits and a block to his stats but did finish the game -1. However, number 81 had 20:04 minutes of ice time, third most on the team behind Pastrnak (F) and McAvoy (D).
Garnet Hathway, a forward, is an incredible two-way player. With the Capitals this season, Hathaway racked up 198 hits, far more than Conor Cliffton (D), who is leading in Bruins hits. He also had 65 blocks, nine goals, and seven assists with a +/- of 6. In his debut game, the forward added two hits to his record in 11:40 minutes of ice time. Number 21 is known for being an aggressive player, often labeled a “goon.” Adding him to a team with Marchand is probably the NHL Player Safety’s biggest nightmare.
In order to gain these two great players, Boston had to forfeit Craig Smith. While he has historically put up okay numbers for his position, he has lacked in depth this year. Smith has only put up four goals and six assists for 10 points this season. While he wasn’t the lowest contributing points forward on the Bruins, he didn’t have the defensive strength to make him much of an asset, contributing only 33 hits and eight blocks. His ATOI decreased significantly from last season as he no longer produced how the team needed him to.
In a post-game interview following his debut, Hathway commented, “I felt immediately welcome. It’s a whole Bruins nation, the whole Boston area, that has made it feel like Day 1, I’m part of the team.” Time will tell if this trade will live up to its potential, but the new players already feel the brotherhood behind this monumental team.