Screen cap: Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins held their season-ending player media sessions on Tuesday, following their very unexpected first round exit from the 2023 postseason. Former Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov, who was traded to Boston at the 2023 trade deadline, held his final media session Tuesday afternoon.
Orlov, now an unrestricted free agent, was asked if he thinks returning to Washington is an option for him.
”I don’t know. We’ll see. Probably, yeah. I’m gonna talk to my agent. How I see. If they trade me I don’t think it’s gonna workout, but we’ll see.”
It feels like Orlov is more than entertaining the idea of returning to Washington. A member of the Boston media also got that impression.
Orlov sounds like he wants a deal with the Caps. Open to Bruins, certainly, but a lot of years there.
At 32, he said, “It’s my last contract.”
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) May 2, 2023
Of course there are two sides to the possibility of Orlov returning to Washington. On the Capitals side, the question remains, would they entertain bringing him back?
Orlov, 31, was originally traded because he was asking for too much (money and term) in his negotiations for a new deal with Brian MacLellan. MacLellan felt the two sides hit an impass, and a trade had to be made.
It will be interesting to see if the two sides return to the negotiating table in the coming weeks, and if Orlov and his agent have softened on their demands in any way.
I’m sure the Boston fans loved to hear this haha! Dima was probably their most solid player through the whole series.
Come home Dima! But give us a hometown discount, please?
Caps could do worse than “Snarls”
Orlov hits people and has attitude
Get hot from time to time and scores in bunches
Caps really need a “Big Bopper” like Pronger but they’re scarce
Caps traditionally have done “welcome home” a lot to former Caps players
Like Mojo. He played exceptionally well this season I thought. Mojo just got a 2-year re-up in MIN
He would definitely help if we can work out a good AAV and term.
OK now, where and how, roster- and money-wise, are we gonna squeeze him in?! Especially after such a solid showing in Boston 🤔
I’d love to see Orlov back in the red, white, and blue. Guess we’ll see how this plays out.
As much as I like Orlov, I feel that resigning him after trading him away shows that this management team has learned nothing from their mistakes.
There are instances where players return/re sign the next season back with their old team after they trade them for playoff runs. It is not as uncommon as you might think. Orlov, in my opinion, was a core player. If he’d come back at a compromised term (4 or 5 yrs instead of 6 or 7) I think they should do it. My hope would be something like 5 years, 30 million. You can front load the contract first 3 or 4 years with bonuses, then when you need to trade him possibly in year 5, the acquiring team won’t have much left to pay to take him on.
Orlov – 5 years – $6M per year. Not a bad plan for GMBM!
Especially good if alternative plans to “beef up” the Blue Line don’t pan out. Good idea M.E.!
In my heart, I want him back with the Caps. There would be only a few destinations for him and it would be difficult for Boston to re sign him (trust me, they have less flexibility than Caps do). The teams with Cap room are the ones that are rebuilding right now and the Carolina Hurricanes (which don’t need him). Bmac could make this work if he wants to but he would have to move a 4/5 million dollar player to make it comfortable (mantha to chicago anyone?). 😉
That would eat up most of our cap space when they’re looking for a top six forward. AlsoI wouldn’t pay Orlov for more than 3 years, he’ll be 37!!!! by the end of a 5 year contract, and would be the opposite of what the caps are trying to do with their roster, get younger.
I love Orlov, but the Caps would need to either trade one of Fehervary or Alexeyev. That’s not how to get younger.
Or move Mantha to Chicago? They really need a player or three to eat up cap space to get to the cap floor next year. Maybe they could also trade one of TVR or Jensen and move AA to the right side 3rd pair? That would allow them to sign Orlov and keep him on the left.
Why would you try to force someone into an unnatural position, just to bring back a legacy player at a high AAV?
I don’t think Chicago will have any problem getting to the floor.
I thought that he has played the right side in Hershey and Washington some?
As for high AAV, yes there might be a team that will pay him north of 6 million and for more than 5 years but I think if he doesn’t find that out in free agency that it would make sense to get him back at around the 4/5 year at 6 million rate I am suggesting. The Caps do need another good blueliner and Orlov fits that.
They could just sign Fehvs and call it done but I don’t think that top 6 is a playoff top 6, unless Bmac is just BSing everyone that Caps are still trying to win (playoffs, cup, etc…)
He plays way worse when forced to his off side. Most defensemen do because of the unnatural stick orientation on their off side. He was able to do it in the AHL because of the weaker talent there, it hasn’t worked in the NHL yet
Ok. That makes it tougher then. I mean, if Bmac and Caps org is not lying when they say they want to keep contending, this current top 6 won’t cut it in my opinion.
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