“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today.
I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.”
-- James Joyce
Dmitry Orlov’s development as an NHL defenseman has not been
linear. Taken in the third round of the
2009 entry draft, 55th overall (between Eric Gelinas and Kevin
Lynch, both of whom spent their 2017-2018 seasons in the AHL), he worked his
way up from the KHL to the AHL and finally to the Caps in 2011-2012. He had a solid rookie season (3-16-19 in 60
games), but then he lost momentum in his development when injuries limited him
to just 59 games with the Caps over the next three seasons, the last of which
he missed in its entirety.
However, since his return to full health for the 2015-2016
season, Orlov has been durable, playing every regular season game over the last
three seasons, and productive, posting 24 goals and 93 points in that span (the
three years within a tight points range – 29 to 33 points), while going
plus-48. In 2017-2018 Orlov set a career
high in goals (10) and for the first time in his six seasons with the Caps
averaged more than 20 minutes in ice time per game – 23:08 – three and a half
minutes more than his previous high (19:36 per game in 2013-2014).
He firmly established himself, with principal partner Matt
Niskanen, as a top-pair defenseman for the club. Orlov finished the 2017-2018 season second in
average ice time (to John Carlson’s 24:47), first in even strength ice time per
game (19:59), second in goals (10, to Carlson’s 15), third in assists (21),
second in points (31), third in plus-minus (plus-10), second in shots on goal
(125), second in credited hits (128), third in blocked shots (116), and second
in takeaways (54).
His tens started slowly – just 1-2-3, minus-3, in his first
two segments – but he raised his production in the third ten-game segment
(1-6-7, plus-5) and maintained it thereafter, going 8-17-25, plus-15 in
segments 3-7 before slumping a bit at the end (1-2-3, minus-2, in his last
segment). Those tens displayed a rather
odd consistency in his shooting. He
averaged 14.7 shots per segment over his last six segments, and they was somewhat
tightly wrapped around that average, ranging from 12 to 18 shots.
Fearless’ Take… Dmitry Orlov will turn 26 years old later
this month, but he is already staking a claim as being one of the better
defensemen in team history, numbers-wise.
He is one of 11 defensemen in franchise history to appear in at least
350 games, record at least 25 goals, and post at least 100 points (30-94-124 in
365 games). Adding in his career
plus-53, and he is one of just eight defensemen to add a plus-50 or better to
the three other marks.
Cheerless’ Take… The Caps were just 13-10-4 in the 27 games
in which Dmitry Orlov skated at least 24 minutes. They were 7-7-1 in the 15 games in which he
recorded at least three shots on goal. And
even though he has that talent for applying crunching hip checks, the Caps were
12-4-1 in games in which he was not credited with a hit. He had an odd combination of numbers.
Odd Orlov Fact… Dmitry Orlov was the only Capitals defenseman
among the ten who dressed for at least one game this season to have a
takeaway-to-giveaway ratio of better than 1:1 (1.06:1 on 54 takeaways and 51
giveaways).
Game to Remember… March 15th at New York
Islanders
Dmitry Orlov has shown from time to time a certain offensive
flair. When he had a goal and an assist
against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 7-4 loss on February 2nd, it
was his tenth multi-point game as a Capital, becoming just the 13th
defenseman in team history to record at least ten such games. But he had yet to post a three-point
game. That is, until a mid-March game in
Brooklyn against the New York Islanders.
It was a wild game from the start. Brock Nelson put the Islanders in front less
than three minutes into the game, but the Caps stormed back on goals be Lars
Eller and T.J. Oshie less than a minute apart mid-way through the period. Andrew Ladd tied the game for the Isles just
60 seconds after Oshie’s goal, and it looked as if the teams would go to the
first intermission tied, 2-2. But with
less than three minutes in the first period, Orlov got the Caps started up ice
with a pass from his knees to Evgeny Kuznetsov exiting the defensive zone. Kuznetsov carried the puck into the Islander
end, and they he curled back along the left wing boards looking for
support. He spied Orlov trailing the
play and backed off to the blue line while feeding Orlov skating down the wall. Orlov curled through the left wing circle and
from a severe angle threw a shot at the Islander net that snuck between goalie
Christopher Gibson and the near post to give Washington a 3-2 lead at the first
intermission.
The Caps added to their lead early in the second period on
an Andre Burakovsky goal. Mid-way through
the period, Orlov found Nicklas Backstrom circling through the right wing
circle in the New York zone on a power play.
Backstrom fed the puck in front to Kuznetsov for a shot from Gibson’s
left. Gibson got a glove on it, but the
puck trickled out to Backstrom, who sent it home to give the Caps a 5-2 lead
and Orlov a secondary assist. In the
third period, the teams exchanged goals less than a minute apart mid-way
through the frame, but Oshie took a feed from Orlov as he was reaching the red
line and snapped a shot into the Islanders’ empty net to seal the Caps’ 7-3 win
and Orlov’s first three-point game as a Capital.
Game to Forget… November 7th at Buffalo
It was a night many Capitals seemed to lack excitement for,
and for many Capitals it became one to forget.
An early-November game in Buffalo against a team struggling with a 4-8-2
record. Buffalo jumped all over the Caps
in the first period, outshooting them, 15-4, but Philipp Grubauer kept the
game scoreless. He could not hold them
off forever, though, allowing an Evander Kane goal less than three minutes into
the second period. Alex Ovechkin tied
the game late in the period, but the Sabres reclaimed the lead early in the
third period on a Benoit Pouliot goal.
Kane added an empty netter in the last minute to wrap up the scoring in
a 3-1 Caps loss.
For Dmitry Orlov it was a particularly frustrating
night. He was not on ice for any of the
three Buffalo goals, but he had five of the Caps’ 25 shots on goal (tied for
the team lead and his highest shot total of the season) and eight of the team’s
43 shot attempts (tops on the club). He
did not record a point in 24:24 of ice time.
Postseason… Coming into the 2018 postseason, Dmitry Orlov
appeared in 24 games without a goal and with only three assists. He got his first career playoff goal when he
opened the scoring in the Caps’ series clinching 6-3 win over the Columbus Blue
Jackets in Game 6 of the opening round series.
It was the middle game of a three-game points streak in which he had a
goal and three assists, doubling his career point total in the postseason.
By the time it was over, Orlov doubled his playoff game
total, appearing in all 24 games for the Caps.
He went 2-6-8, plus-5, to set career highs in goals, assists, points,
and plus-minus. His 48 shots on goal
almost doubled his total from the previous two postseasons combined (26). Similarly, his hit total (40) and blocked
shot total (43) were career bests, and he logged his highest average ice time
in three trips to the playoffs (24:12, third behind John Carlson (25:38) and
Matt Niskanen (25:23)).
In the end…
Looking at the cap hits of active defensemen, Dmitry Orlov’s
$5.1 million is nestled between five players at $5.0 million (Detroit’s Danny
DeKeyser, New Jersey’s Andy Greene, Vancouver’s Alexander Edler, Toronto’s
Morgan Rielly, and Philadelphia’s Andrew MacDonald; and Buffalo’s Zach Bogosian
at $5.143 million. In that neighborhood,
Orlov might be a bargain. Only Rielly is
younger (24; Orlov is 25), Only Rielly (51 points) and Edler (34) had more
points than Orlov in 2017-2018 (31), only Edler had higher average ice time
(24:15 to 23:07), and Orlov had the best plus-minus (plus-10; all numbers from
capfriendly.com). Orlov has five more
years on his current deal, too. He has
improved his offense with reasonable consistency since his injury plagued early
years as a pro, and he has improved his play in his own end to the point where
he gets steady top-four minutes with Matt Niskanen as the nominal top pair among
the defensemen. It has been a slow, or
at least slower than either player or club might have liked, process, but all
the hurdles and all the opportunities have established Orlov as part of a solid
foundation on the blue line for years to come.
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America
