Will the Bruins make more moves at the trade deadline? Here is Don Sweeney’s reply originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins made their first move ahead of the March 3 NHL trade deadline by acquiring defenseman Dmitry Orlov and right wing Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
Adding those two players wasn’t cheap for the Bruins. They sent the Capitals right wing Craig Smith and three draft picks, including a 2023 first-rounder. The Minnesota Wild also got a 2023 fifth-rounder from Boston for retaining a portion of Orlov’s salary. The Wild also sent the Bruins the rights to Russian forward Andrei Svetlakov.
How Bruins’ trade for Orlov, Hathaway significantly improves their roster
After bolstering their depth and adding some toughness/playoff experience with the acquisitions of Orlov and Hathaway, are the Bruins done making moves with a week to go before the trade deadline?
“You just never know,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney told reporters in a Zoom call Thursday. “Again, this deal came together relatively quickly through discussions with (Capitals general manager) Brian (MacLellan) who is really, really good to deal with, and it was just an opportunity that presented itself.
“We’ve clearly been in the marketplace for a period of time and trying to gauge who may or may not be available, and what deals you can do. You know, not necessarily going to be overly aggressive, but we really like our team and hopefully — like I said, we’re going to stay healthy and monitor. We have eight more days to sort of see, but for the most part our guys should feel comfortable that we’ve added to our group and it’s time to continue to do what these guys have set out to do and have a special year.”
Sweeney later added: “I’m not going to be predicting where things go next, I’m merely worried about where our group is and what we are trying to accomplish, and if other things present themselves, we’ll take a look at them. It doesn’t mean I have to be aggressive in any way, shape or form, you know, minus the obvious. Injuries are always the unknown, but again we’ve had several players from Providence. We went through a period of time where a lot of those guys were getting an opportunity and we may do that going forward, but I am certainly not going to predict where the market goes next… I mean that’s for all teams, all 32 teams to continue to discuss and those discussions will continue.”
Projected Bruins lines, pairings after trade for Orlov, Hathaway
Judging by these comments, it doesn’t sound like Sweeney is going to be too active over the next week.
It’s also hard for the Bruins to be aggressive because they’re so close to the salary cap. The Bruins have just $1.325 million in cap space as of Friday, per CapFriendly. They could free up additional cap space by trading a player such as Mike Reilly. The veteran defenseman has a $3 million cap hit through the 2023-24 season.
Unless a deal comes up that Sweeney just can’t turn down, there isn’t any need for the Bruins to make more trades. This roster has great depth. The Bruins have 11 defenseman who could be in the mix depending on whether injuries become a factor. AJ Greer will likely be the extra forward, and if injuries become an issue up front, Jakub Lauko could re-join the team from the AHL’s Providence Bruins.
Now that the Bruins have made their big move ahead of the trade deadline, the goal for the rest of the regular season is figuring out where in the lineup Orlov and Hathaway’s talents will be most effective.