VANCOUVER — Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway were scheduled to touch down in Vancouver on Friday night. It’s possible the ex-Capitals could play for their newly reinforced employer on Saturday against the Canucks.
Puck drop, however, is 4 p.m. local. The Bruins will not hold a morning skate. So if all parties conclude that Saturday is the day for Orlov and Hathaway to debut, they will do so without a single on-ice tuneup with their new teammates.
Advertisement
That might be just fine.
“It’s going to be, ultimately, their opportunity,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “I would imagine the excitement of putting on a spoked-B uniform and joining us would be they want to play. That’ll be a conversation I have with them.”
If Orlov and Hathaway want to play, Montgomery will have to make some difficult decisions, especially on defense. Orlov gives the Bruins eight defensemen on the varsity. Jakub Zboril, who played as the No. 7 defenseman in Thursday’s 6-5 win over the Kraken, would most likely return to the press box. Who would join Zboril upstairs at Rogers Arena is unknown.
The other six defensemen have played together for 36 straight games. None of them deserves to sit. For now, Montgomery could pitch it as an opportunity for rest.
“That would be who we think might need a night off,” said Montgomery. “We have seven, eight really good defensemen. We are spoiled with an embarrassment of riches. There’s going to be a rotation back there.”
Montgomery met with the defensemen after Thursday’s trade. He knows, as individuals, they are thinking about how Orlov’s arrival affects their standing. It could be that in the playoffs, for example, Matt Grzelcyk finds himself on the outside — assuming a fully healthy blue line — because of previous postseason performance.
In their meeting, Montgomery reminded the defensemen of all the injuries they have experienced in the playoffs. Just in the last two years, Grzelcyk (shoulder, head), Hampus Lindholm (head), Charlie McAvoy (shoulder, COVID-19) and Brandon Carlo (head) have missed postseason time. Everybody will be needed, even if the blue line is more crowded now than before. The team, after all, comes before the individual.
“That’s not the Bruins’ culture,” Montgomery said of players thinking about themselves first. “That’s why we communicate about it. We talk about it. It’s like, ‘Hey, we wanted everybody here. Because you’re all going to help us win.’ Orlov’s coming to help us win. Hathaway’s coming to help us win. We’re deeper, right? We’re better suited for a deep playoff run. Hopefully we have that kind of success that we have a deep playoff run.”
Advertisement
Grzelcyk played 14:00 against the Kraken, the fewest among the six regular defensemen. If Grzelcyk sits on Saturday, Orlov could see time alongside McAvoy. It would make a transition very easy. According to Montgomery, the Capitals play a variation of man-to-man in their end. The Bruins play zone defense, which can take some time to grasp. It will take more than a pregame video session for Orlov to get his bearings.
That said, Orlov should not be upside down if he plays.
“The adrenaline of playing your first game in a new uniform, the excitement of having closure and moving forward, is something you want to do a lot of times as a player,” said Montgomery.
It should be easier for Hathaway, given his position and his straight-line style. He is not known for taking shortcuts. Hathaway enjoys taking the most direct route to check his opponent into next week.
“He’s a guy you don’t like playing against because he plays you hard,” said Charlie Coyle, a former offseason training partner of Hathaway at Foxborough’s Edge Performance Systems. “Finishes his checks. He’s a guy that’s going to be so important for us, especially playoff time. He’s a playoff-type guy. You want those guys on your team.”
Hathaway’s lineup spot depends partly on whether Tomas Nosek will play. The fourth-line center practiced on Friday for the third straight day. Nosek, who’s missed 12 straight games because of a broken foot, is a possibility against the Canucks.
If Nosek plays, Montgomery said Hathaway would be the No. 4 right wing. Nick Foligno would be on the opposite flank. Foligno and Hathaway are both belligerent and eager to place opponents through the glass.
“The way he plays, he’s an all-out effort, all-out heart-and-soul kind of guy,” Foligno said. “When you have those guys on your team that understand the importance of that role, first of all, it makes you a harder team to play against. Then it’s also a guy you line up across, you know what he’s going to do for your club. It puts you in the foxhole together a little bit. He’s a guy that’ll probably bring a lot of guys into the fight the way he plays.”
Advertisement
In that case, Trent Frederic, Nosek’s fourth-line fill-in, could go back to No. 3 right wing next to Coyle and Taylor Hall. A.J. Greer would get the night off.
If Nosek does not play, Foligno would most likely remain the third-line right wing. Hathaway would ride with Greer and Frederic on the fourth line. They total 630 pounds.
“He works so hard,” Coyle said. “We push each other in the weight room. He’s a great guy to have. Because he pushes himself. He pushes others. I’m sure he does that on the ice too and in the locker room, which is a good thing. Those are just the type of guys who are willing to work and put in the effort to play the right way. He fits that description pretty well.”
(Photo of Dmitry Orlov: John McCreary / NHLI via Getty Images)
