Bruins and Capitals make intriguing deal week before NHL trade deadline

The Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals were the principal trade partners in a three-way deal that also involved the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. The Bruins traded center Craig Smith of Madison, Wisconsin to the Capitals. Washington traded defenseman Dmitry Orlov of Novokuznetsk, Russia and right winger Garnet Hathaway of Kennebunkport, Maine to Boston. The Bruins also received Russian center prospect Andrei Svetlakov from the Wild, and traded three draft picks to the Capitals and one draft pick to the Wild. The Capitals get a first round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, a third round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and a second round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. The Wild get a fifth round pick from the Bruins in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Craig Smith

The Capitals become the third NHL team for Smith following nine seasons with the Nashville Predators (2011 to 2020) and three seasons with the Bruins (2020 to 2023). In 42 games this season he had four goals and six assists for 10 points. Smith was a +4 with 14 penalty minutes, one power-play point, 51 shots on goal, one faceoff win, eight blocked shots, 33 hits, 14 takeaways, and 10 giveaways. The power-play point was an assist on a goal by Pavel Zacha of Brno, Czechia in a 6-3 Bruins win over the Arizona Coyotes. The faceoff win came in a 4-0 Bruins win over the San Jose Sharks on January 22.

Dmitry Orlov

Orlov is joining his second NHL team after being with the Capitals for the 11 seasons. He was on the Capitals team that won the 2018 Stanley Cup. This season in 43 games, Orlov has three goals and 16 assists for 19 points. He is a +2 with 10 penalty minutes, two game-winning goals, four power-play points, 77 shots on goal, 62 blocked shots, 88 hits, 20 takeaways and 35 giveaways. Orlov’s game-winning goals came in a 4-3 Washington win over the Detroit Red Wings on December 19 and in a 4-3 Capitals overtime win over the New York Islanders on January 16.

Garnet Hathaway

Hathaway is joining his third NHL team after four seasons each with the Calgary Flames and Capitals. In 59 games this season, he has nine goals and seven assists for 16 points. Hathaway is a +6 with 52 penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, 70 shots on goal, three faceoff wins, 65 blocked shots, 198 hits, nine takeaways and nine giveaways. Hathaway’s game-winning goal came in a 2-1 Washington win over Boston on February 11.