4 things to know about new Bruins defenseman Dmitry Orlov

Bruins Dmitry Orlov was the Bruins’ big acquisition ahead of the NHL trade deadline. AP Photo/Jess Rapfogel

The Bruins swung a big trade Thursday to bolster their forward depth and, more importantly, strengthen their top defensive pairings.

Boston acquired defenseman Dmitry Orlov, along with forward Garnet Hathaway, from the Washington Capitals in exchange for forward Craig Smith and three draft picks, including a first-round pick.

Orlov, 31, spent the last 14 years as a member of the Capitals’ organization after they selected him in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Now that he’s with the Bruins, here are four things to know about Orlov.

He’s viewed as a multi-dimensional defenseman.

Orlov has been a solid defenseman for the Capitals over his 11-year NHL career.

Orlov’s had a positive plus/minus in all but one of his NHL seasons. He posted a career-best plus-30 in the 2016-17 season, which was the sixth-best plus/minus in the league that year.

Additionally, he’s been a consistent top-four guy for the Capitals over the last decade, a stretch in which they’ve been one of the league’s top teams. In fact, his average time on ice over the last four seasons is among the most in the league. As he holds a 22:43 average time on ice this season, Orlov ranks in the 93rd percentile in average time on ice for defensemen over the last four seasons, per The Athletic.

A big reason why Orlov plays so much, on top of being a solid defenseman, is his ability to play with the puck. Experts have praised Orlov’s ability to move the puck from zone to zone in transition.

As a result, Orlov’s posted some solid offensive stats. In just 43 games this season, he has three goals and 16 assists. Last season, he scored a career-high 12 goals and added 23 assists, as his 35 points were the sixth-most on the Capitals.

Orlov has typically posted point totals in the high 20s to low 30s over his career. Over an 82-game projection over the last four seasons, Orlov ranks in the 71st percentile in goals, 83rd percentile in assists, and 81st percentile in points for defensemen, per The Athletic. He also ranks in the 81st percentile for expected goals among defensemen over that stretch.

He played a key role in the Capitals’ run to winning a Stanley Cup in 2018.

Orlov stepped up in a big way during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs.

In the first round, he dished out an assist on the game-winning, overtime goal to help the Capitals take a 3-2 series lead over the Blue Jackets (it was his second assist of the game). He scored the opening goal in Game 6 of that series en route to a 6-3 win to help Washington advance.

Orlov stepped up in crunch time again in the Capitals’ second-round series against the Penguins. He assisted Matt Niskanen on the game-tying goal in the third period of Game 5 en route to a Washington win that put it up 3-2 in the series. He assisted Evgeny Kuznetsov on the series-winning goal in overtime in Game 6 to help the Capitals advance.

Orlov didn’t have many more clutch moments on the score sheet after that, scoring a goal and two assists in the Capitals Eastern Conference final win over the Lightning and didn’t post a point in the Stanley Cup Final against the Golden Knights. But the Capitals performed well with Orlov on the ice in the Stanley Cup final as he posted a plus-three over the series en route to a five-game series win.

He’s delivered some brutal hits in the past – including one against the Bruins.

Orlov doesn’t have the most physical profile out there. He’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 214 pounds. His career-high in hits is 137 and he had the seventh-most hits on the Capitals last season with 124.

That hasn’t stopped Orlov from throwing his body around though. He’s delivered some leveling hits in recent seasons.

Bruins fans might remember one hit Orlov made in particular. In the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, Orlov left his feet to deliver a blow to Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller. The hit left Miller on the ice for a few moments as he suffered a concussion in what ended up being his last NHL game, announcing his retirement that summer.

Orlov was originally assessed a major penalty for the hit, but it was downgraded to a double minor after a review.

Orlov received a two-game suspension in January 2022 for kneeing Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers.

He’s a big cat guy.

Off the ice, Orlov has a family of his own. He and his wife, Varvara, have a son named Krill. They also share a cat named Joy who Orlov has credited for some of his success in the past.

After scoring goals in consecutive games during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Orlov said that the arrival of his family back from Russia, along with Joy, helped him get off the schneid.

“I think maybe my family came from Russia and I got a little bit more excited after being by myself all the time,” Orlov said. “I have Joy in my life [again].”

That wasn’t the only traveling issue Orlav has had in the past with Joy, who is a Bengal. Orlov, who was typically one of the first players to report to Capitals training camp, was one of the last players to report to camp ahead of the 2019-20 season due to some traveling issues with Joy.

“We needed to resolve some issues with my cat,” Orlov told the Sport-Express at the time as translated by Igor Kleyner. “Just some formal paperwork from the vet to allow him to fly with me.”

Luckily, there weren’t any health issues with Joy at the time.

“No, he has no problems flying,” Orlov said. “He is very calm and kind. Just like me!”

Joy had some health problems in the summer of 2021 as Orlov and his wife shared on Instagram that the cat needed a blood donor. Joy received the necessary blood donation needed and was on the mend in August 2021.

Orlov also took Joy with him to the Ice Hockey World Championship in Latvia that year.

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