Bruins acquire Orlov in three team trade

This just in, the Boston Bruins have acquired veteran defenseman Dmitry Orlov and veteran forward Garnett Hathaway in exchange for Craig Smith and a package of draft picks including a 1st round pick in this summer's upcoming draft.

From the Capitals:

The Capitals retained 50% of Orlov's $5.1 million salary and the Minnesota Wild reportedly received an additional draft pick from the Bruins for also retaining some salary on Orlov.

The big name here is obviously Orlov, who has spent his entire career with the Capitals. He's a pending unrestricted free agent coming off a deal that pays him $5.1 million per season. He has a solid three goals and 19 points in 43 games with the Capitals so far this season. He's in the 11th season with the franchise and his best season cam actually last year when he put up 12 goals and 35 points in 76 games. In other words, he's still got game and at 31 years old he might be rounding into the prime of his career. 

The Bruins had, of course, been linked to Vladislav Gavrikov of the Columbus Blue Jackets for awhile now, but todays' acquisition of Orlov should cease those rumors. It remains to be seen what happens in Columbus, but it's believed that the Bruins and Blue Jackets had a deal in principle for Gavrikov's services. Stay tuned on that now.

As for Hathaway, he's an absolute warrior who plays with his heart on his sleeve. He's never going to put up big points, but he did manage to score 14 goals and 26 points in 76 games with the Capitals last season. Like Orlov, he's a pending free agent.

What's really interesting to me about the Capitals is the fact that literally every defenseman they have under contract aside from John Carlson is a pending UFA. Orlov, Nick Jensen, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Alexander Alexeyev and Erik Gustafsson are all pending free agents and... honestly... how many of those players do we expect to return next season? Prior to this recent development I'd have said that maybe only Orlov is worth bringing back on a new contract. Now it looks like even his future is elsewhere. His immediate future is in Boston obviously, but it'll be interesting to see if they keep him long-term or use him as a simple rental.