The Bruins have few flaws, and Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway help patch the gaps
Orlov #Orlov
The Bruins didn’t need to make any moves before the NHL’s March 3 trade deadline.
Following their late-night victory over the Kraken Thursday, the Bruins have 93 points through 57 games. If they earn 40 points in their last 25 games, they will break the NHL record for points in a season.
The roster assembled by general manager Don Sweeney and led by coach Jim Montgomery has been the league’s juggernaut for months. But in a sport where even the stoutest lineups can be felled by the fickle bounce of a puck, no GM is ever completely satisfied.
With a daunting slog through the Eastern Conference playoff bracket looming, the Bruins stood to gain if they added more skill and snarl to the lineup.
In one move on Thursday, Sweeney checked both objectives. New additions Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway offer both the offensive-zone tools and the sandpaper style of play that might put an already elite roster over the top.
Much-needed muscle
Hathaway, a right winger, is the type of asset many contenders home in on when the feeding frenzy commences around the deadline. He is the classic thorn-in-your-side player who has opposing skaters looking over their shoulders when retrieving pucks.
Hathaway ranks eighth in the NHL with 198 hits — 42 more than the Bruins’ leader, Connor Clifton.
Orlov, a defenseman, may not be a heat-seeking missile like Vancouver’s Luke Schenn (a league-leading 258 hits). But the 5-foot-11-inch, 214-pound blue liner rarely budges. When he is not toppling opponents looking to gain easy entry into the offensive zone, his study frame is good for boxing them out and limiting scoring chances.
“You don’t know [who] you’re going to play [in the playoffs],” Sweeney said. “It doesn’t matter, because who you’re going to play is going to be a ridiculously tough opponent. And you’ve got to be able to dictate.
“We’re trying to be consistent in how we’re going to want to play. And I think both of these players add to that.”
Defensive depth
The punishment doled out during the postseason tends to cut both ways.
Yes, the Bruins have the means to land some shots against whatever matchup comes their way, but it’s very possible that the defensive unit they roll out in the first round will not be the same in mid-June.
That’s why Sweeney isn’t necessarily concerned with the lineup logjam created by Orlov’s arrival.
“Every guy wants to play,” Sweeney noted. “But we’re now in a situation where we may be able to rest a guy if he is dinged up and he’s playing through something, which we’ve had several guys do.
“I think, as a group, we have to understand that we generally haven’t started the playoffs with the same six guys and finished it that way.”
The Bruins’ six-man defensive configuration of Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo, Derek Forbort, and Connor Clifton was already an elite grouping. Adding Orlov to the mix gives Montgomery even more options, especially with Orlov capable of playing on the left or right side.
Grzelcyk also can shift to his weak side if need be, opening the door for Montgomery to deploy varied personnel against whatever opponent the Bruins face.
Injuries in previous postseasons to Grzelcyk (2019), Carlo (2021), and Lindholm (2022) thwarted three very promising playoff trips.
Additional offense
Little has gone wrong this season for the Bruins when it comes to generating offense. Montgomery’s up-tempo preachings and “quality over quantity” mantra with shot selection has led to scoring conduits all across the depth chart.
Pavel Zacha is pushing for 60 points in his first season with Boston. Trent Frederic could flirt with the 20-goal threshold. Nick Foligno is on pace for 35 points in a bounce-back season.
And on the fourth line, Hathaway offers additional scoring punch. He can be a lethal scorer on a straight-line checking unit, in large part because of his ability to create havoc on the forecheck.
The Capitals utilized Hathaway almost exclusively in a defensive role. Of the 476 NHL players who have logged at least 500 minutes of five-on-five ice time this season, Hathaway ranks last in offensive zone start percentage at 17.82.
But the Capitals still outscored opponents 27-21 in Hathaway’s five-on-five reps. His ability to create turnovers and clean up loose pucks down low gives the Bruins more scoring touch up front.
Orlov may not be a defenseman whose primary offense is clapping shots from the point, but he has often been undervalued as a poised puck-mover who generates plenty of scoring chances by way of clean exits and smooth entries into the offensive zone.
Orlov racked up more than 25 points in six of his 10 seasons with Washington. Ranking in the 99th percentile of exit success rate and zone entries, he is one of the best in the league when it comes to ferrying pucks through the neutral zone and setting up teammates for quality looks.
Depending on how Montgomery structures his D corps, the Bruins could have a high-end puck mover on all three pairings.
Having another defenseman with Orlov’s skill set allows Montgomery to continue pushing the pace with a five-man attack.
“Very, very good puck mover,” Sweeney said. “Looks to get up into the rush. Has a shot mentality on the offensive blue line. Certainly defends with conviction. And does have an open-ice mind-set at times to be able to take away time and space effectively.”
Thursday’s trade does not guarantee a title for the Bruins. It does not even guarantee a first- or second-round triumph.
But Sweeney has pushed this team’s already lofty ceiling even higher.
“They’re excited to come in and add to our team,” Sweeney said. “I don’t think there’s a player on our team that doesn’t acknowledge that you’re going to go through physical battles and the wars of attrition the playoffs represent. So it’s just time to go to work.”