Don Sweeney Just Dropped His Nuts On The Table Acquiring Dmitry Orlov And Garnet Hathaway From The Washington Capitals
OH BABY!!! The Bruins are loading up before the deadline getting Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov from the Washington Capitals. We've heard all along that it was Vladislav Gavrikov that the Bruins had a trade in place for and all Boston had to do was shed money, nope… Don Sweeney drops hits nuts on the table and goes out and snags two really good players to bolster this lineup.
The full package: Craig Smith, a 2023 first, 2025 second, and 2024 third going from Boston to the Washington in exchange for Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov.
There was a brief moment that David Pagnotta tweeted that Connor Clifton and Jakub Zboril was headed to Washington and I was incredibly sad to lose Cliffy Hockey. But that ain't happening!
Minnesota is involved as well, receiving a fifth round pick in 2023 to retain 25% of Orlov's cap hit. They will also send the rights to forward Andrei Svetlakov to Boston.
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I really love this deal, Bruins address a need on defense and get bigger and snarlier with Hathaway in the bottom six. Hathaway and Frederic are the new bash brothers in Boston. Craig Smith (and his contract) was on the outs (I think he just didn't fit in Montgomery's system being a volume shooter), he was incredibly versatile and wish him all the best. Don't care about the picks (I think the Bruins don't have a 2nd round pick until like 2026) , I care about what the Bruins can do in the playoffs and they certainly got better.
We'll see how lines and D pairings shake out, lots of versatility with Orlov playing with McAvoy or being more in a third pairing role. Hathaway and Foligno most likely will skate with Nosek on the 4th line, keeping Hall Coyle and Frederic together. I have despised Hathaway as a Capital but boy do I love him as a Bruin.
Also I was putting the final touches on my trade deadline blog today to be released tomorrow morning. Straight to the trash. Thems the breaks. I definitely didn't expect Hathaway and Orlov to be on the market. For as much shit as I give Don Sweeney, this is exactly how you bolster your lineup. Just a way better package than what was reported to acquire Vladislav Gavrikov. Fired the fuck up.
It's a great night to win a hockey game.