Hathaway for Smith feels like a wash (cap savings aside).

So renting Orlov just cost Boston:

1st rounder
2nd rounder
3rd rounder
5th rounder

I know he's a solid top 4 defenseman.

But NYR paid less for Tarasenko + Mikola.

And TOR paid the same for O'Reilly + Acciari.

Both returns seem far more impactful than Boston's.

Could they not land Chychrun with like one extra 1st?

There is no condition that would matter on the first for Boston. They have 91 points in 56 games. I've never heard of a 100 point team not making the playoffs

So if they literally went 4-21-1 for the rest of the season they'd make the playoffs.

Not sure how true this is but I saw on twitter he can still get a ring if BOS wins the cup because he played "X" number of regular season games with the team which qualifies for it?

I always thought you had to play 1 playoff game to qualify for it, with exception to injured regulars and the backup goalie.

Smith has negative value. He's already gone through waivers unclaimed in December, so to dump 3.1M aav worth of cap, I imagine that would take the 2nd round pick to do so. So Hathaway certainly has more value than Smith. So in my opinion, take out the 2nd from this and that's your package for Orlov and Hathaway.

Still a lot to pay for rentals no doubt, sellers are usually always winners at the deadline, but I like this deal in the sense that it's an all-in move with this core. And the attributes/experience that both of these vets bring for the playoffs is invaluable, compared to some of the other options in the market right now.

I think the acquisition of Orlov is just to have insurance that, in the case of injury to someone in the top4, the next man up is still a very good option. BOS saw this happen against CAR last year. Lindholm missed a few games, Gryz was playing with an injured shoulder.

Before this trade, BOS next man up for the top4 was Clifton for the right side and Zboril/Forbort for the left side. Orlov can play both sides which gives BOS that flexibility and a better comfort level of their top4 in case of injury.

That makes sense. Thanks.

Great trade for both teams.

Its at best 27 OA in the 1st rnd. That is a late pick. Who cares? They managed to dump Smith's cap hit and get two major pieces for futures that have less than 50% chance of even being effective nhl regulars. They did that instead of pay a 1st plus for Gavrikov whom isnt close to as steady as Orlov.

They were talking about adding Gavrikov at about the same cost. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I dont see how ppl can question a good move while thinking there was always something better out there. Orlov can play big mins just like Chychrun. They are already far away the best team in the league. Orlov is the insurance they need after Lindholm and Grzelcyk were injured last playoffs vs Car.

Ppl said the same of Lindholm that he was an overpay for a rental at the TDL. He was resigned in the offseason by Boston and has had the best season of his career by far.
Nothing says Boston doesnt sign Orlov who's looking for a 6 year deal and the Caps only offered him 3 years. They arent even close in discussion so the Bruins have the upper hand there as well.

So this trade is basically the mirror image of the O'Reilly trade. Cost is nearly identical, and they even used the same broker for the cap hit. It's even mirrored in the fact that neither team figured to be sellers at the beginning of the year, and there is even a young, better non-rental player available at a similar position that they decided cost to much (Chyrcun in Orlov's case, Meier in O'Reilly's), and just like Toronto, Boston literally covers their biggest needs.

So just like the O'Reilly trade, I think it was a shrewd move by Washington to get great assets for a player that may walk away. This deal is a little close to the "fair deal" because Washington isn't as far out of the playoffs as the Blues were, and Boston's window is literally now, so the draft capital should be considered a little more expendable. They also get the player that is a little more of a sure thing, as he has been just steadily very good. His peak isn't what O'Reilly's was, but he was playing better this season that O'Reilly was, so it's definitely a little more of a sure thing.

Been a busy trade season, hope it keeps up.

This draft is so deep that their saying a second this year could be worth more than a first next year. A first round pick is not late

We hear every year how great the upcoming draft is.

We literally don't. The 2021 and 2022 draft was thought to have been some of the weakest. Shows how out of the loop you are. This is the next big draft

Also, BOS is in win now mode, they are clearly gunning for it. This is going to be a deal that ww will know who wins AFTER this year

out of the loop? not at all. The drafts get hyped up every year. Every now and then a generational player like Bedard comes around and it gets hyped up even more. The 2015 draft is considered one of the deepest draft in recent years and guess what % of players drafted in 2015 have played at least 100 NHL game? The answer is 31% of the players. I've said it before and I'll say it again, draft picks are like scratch tickets. Very few win the big prize, some get their money back and most come away with nothing.

It doesn't cost nearly that much to dump 3.1 million of cap this late in the year. It cost like a 5th for Minnesota to take more than half of that with no player coming back. It just cost a second and future 4th for 4.5 million of zaitsev for this year and next. Maybe dumping him and Hathaway was worth the 2nd but maybe together they're the third

Does Boston have the cap room to sign another top 3 dman for term? I'm not criticizing, genuinely asking. Seems like they're going to obviously have to give pasta a raise, then need to spend significantly more for their top 2 c long term than the incredible bargain they have of 3.5 million for their top 2cs.

Well if you draft the way Boston did in the last draft that was considered extremely deep, probably best to just punt your picks anyway, but a late first isn't nothing, and with this shaping up to be a deep draft, having multiple firsts could be franchise altering.

I think this was absolutely a good move for Boston, and jokes aside, not just because of their embarrassing haul with 3 picks in 2015, but just the reality of how important it is to maximize their odds in what could be the final season of them being a powerhouse, but I don't get why people are minimizing the value of picks.

Picks are valuable, but it can still make sense for teams to trade them. Both can be true at the same time. You don't need to think picks are worthless to think Boston made a good trade, and you don't need to think they guarantee star players to think Washington made the right move by getting some picks for a UFA they may not be able to afford in a year where they don't seem likely to make the playoffs.

It's just a good trade where both teams had valuable assets that were probably a little more valuable to the other team, so they traded. Doesn't need to be anything other than that.

I would agree on the Gavirkov comment though, that's Chiarot 2.0 waiting to happen. He's what people think a good defensemen plays like, Orlov is much closer to what people seem to think Gavrikov is.

"embarrassing haul with 3 picks in 2015,"

DeBrusk has 3Gs (one a GWG) in three games back from injury & was on-pace for a 30-30 season - bum!. Moreover, he's had more playoff success than any other 2015 draft classmen (except Rantanen).
* Barzal - was one knee injury away from being an Accountant (BOS has a history w/ knees so can see the pass justification there).
* Chabot/Zboril were somewhat equally rated at the draft. Zboril played last night so making the "show" is not something I've done...
* K Connor was the guy BOS should have taken and didn't...hindsight makes me so smart there w/ that pick nugget.

ZS was off the board - 110% miss 4-sure...

Round 2: Carlo was a home run...

I've heard it goes 22 picks deep then its like any other draft. You are arguing semantics. The point being Boston paid little for premium assets instead of a Gavrikov, they got a horse in Orlov and paid at best a 27 OA selection with little chance at being an impact player. This isnt the Panthers trading a 1st unprotected the following season for Chiarot. Not close, and to presume its even close is bad faith.

I don't think the actual cap hit was the problem with Smith, it was the actual money owed. His cap hit this year was $3.1 million, but in real money (what comes out of the owners pocket) he was to be paid $4.3 million

Didn't realize that. That would be an issue for some teams and not others.

Just roughly doing the math, my guess is that who ever took him as a pure "cap dump" and not part of a package like WSH did, they would have needed to pay him around $1 million for the rest of the season. Without a decent prospect or pick coming back, idk how many owners want to shell out $1 million for a guy that is only around for a few months. I think that's why Mike Reilly hasn't been moved yet either. No only does he have another year on his deal, but next year he's owed $4 million in real money despite being a $3 million cap hit. That's the problem with backloading contracts.

Yeah front loading contracts makes them easier to dump on low internal salary teams.

But there are teams that seem willing to spend money in situations like this, but I don't know how many of them are buying cap right now. I feel like some/most of the following:
Toronto (wouldn't take Cap right now)
Vancouver (Who the hell knows what they will ever do)
Montreal
I would say NYR, but they are always pushing themselves to the max cap wise
Buffalo at least when Pegula first came on board seemed open to spending $$
Probably some other bigger hockey market teams like you, Philly, Chicago, maybe Detroit but I don't know the ownership situation well enough to say with confidence