After a stunning Boston Bruins loss in the first round of this season’s NHL playoffs, all eyes will be on the suspended mad agents who will need to decide if they’re open to a return to the team that has won the most games in an NHL season. But he smothered a record-breaking campaign away, or if there are better opportunities elsewhere and/or retirement looks more attractive. Among those players who could have a few more options is defender Dmitry Orlov.
Orlov was traded from the Washington Capitals to the Bruins before the NHL trade deadline for the season and was among the best acquisitions made during that time period. He fit like a glove in Boston and did great. However, the Bruins didn’t lock him in right away, and as he prepared to enter the free agent market for the first time in his career, he got a chance to hit the home run with another big contract. He can choose to stay in Boston, where the money is, but not much of it. He can choose to go to the highest paying team. Or he could choose to go back to the team he played for a number of seasons on, and maybe he likes it the Washington Capitals.
It seems he wants to do the latter.
According to the report of Boston Globe Matt PorterOrlov is optimistic that DC will be open to offering him a new deal. It appears he hasn’t ruled out Boston as an option, but the Bruins would be his second choice, falling short of getting back and playing where he spent the first decade of his NHL career.
Porter tweeted, “Orloff looks like he wants a deal with the Caps. Open to the Bruins, sure, but many years there.” It was Orlov himself who noted, he added, “It’s my last contract.”
An interesting turn of events
Given that the Capitals traded Orloff because the two sides were so far apart in terms of years and money on a new deal, speculation that Orloff wanted to test free agency led to the trade in the first place. This must mean that Orloff is simply hoping the Capitals will rethink its stance, or that Orloff has decided that he is more flexible and willing to talk about a more team-friendly deal.
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