Caps’ GM Brian MacLellan made a big move yesterday, trading away Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov to Boston for a trio of draft picks and forward Craig Smith (and while Hathaway will certainly be missed, both for his work on the ice and in the community...this article ain’t about him).
It’s been somewhat surreal to see Orlov’s name thrown around as a potential trade target in recent days, as word got out that extension talks between him and the team that drafted him back in 2009 were not going well. It was even more surreal to learn that he was headed out of town to don the spoked B up in Boston, ending an 11-year run with the Capitals
Orlov was one of the longest-tenured defensemen in the team’s history, having just recently - like, last game recently - passed Kevin Hatcher for the fifth-most games played by a Caps’ blueliner.