The Boston Bruins have acquired Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov of the Washington Capitals in exchange for Craig Smith, Boston’s first round pick in 2023, third round pick in 2024 and second round pick in 2025. They also received the rights to former Minnesota Wild prospect Andrei Svetlakov. I’ll have more on Svetlakov in my Monday Prospect Update.
The Capitals also retained 50% of Orlov’s salary/cap hit. The Bruins also sent a fifth-round pick to the Wild to retain 25% of Orlov’s salary/cap hit.
The move should put to rest any questions on whether the Bruins were all in on a season that sees them clearly as the top team in the National Hockey League.
Both Hathaway and Orlov are 31 years of age and unrestricted free agents at the end of this season. Hathaway has a cap hit of $1,500,000 and Orlov $5,100,000. Hathaway will carry a cap hit of $405,405 for the remainder of the season for the Bruins while Orlov brings a cap hit of $344,595. General Manager Don Sweeney said that he has not spoken to either player about an extension but is looking forward to having those conversations.
Make no mistake, this was a big trade that may just send the competition on a frenzy to get a deal done fast so as to not fall behind.
The Bruins themselves may not be finished. They would obviously like to move out Mike Reilly and his cap hit in order to absorb some of their potential bonus overages. It may be cost prohibitive and they could potentially carry him over to next season, along with the bonuses and then buy him out and use that against the overages. That would carry a cap hit of just $333,334 next season and $1,333,334 for 2024-2025. But moving him would give the Bruins some room to acquire some depth.
Dom - Hockey 