Caps Close Homestand vs. Rangers
Caps reflect on loss of Orlov and Hathaway as they prepare to face Rangers on Saturday
The Caps conclude a three-game homestand - and a stretch in which they've played six of seven games on home ice - on Saturday afternoon when the New York Rangers come to town for the first of their two visits to the District this season. Including Saturday's game, Washington has 22 games remaining this season, and three of those are against the Rangers.
As they enter Saturday's game, the Caps are desperate for a win, desperate for standings points, and desperate for some good fortune. Their losing streak reached six on Thursday night in a 4-2 loss to Anaheim, and all six of those losses have come in regulation. Washington has not been able to add to its point total in the Eastern Conference standings for two weeks now, and on Saturday afternoon against New York, the Caps enter a game saddled with a six-game regulation losing streak for the first time in nearly two decades.
Less than an hour before Thursday's loss to the Ducks, the Caps announced the trade of a pair of veteran stalwarts - defenseman Dmitry Orlov and right wing Garnet Hathaway - to the Boston Bruins in exchange for veteran winger Craig Smith and a trio of draft choices: a first-rounder in 2023, a second-rounder in 2025 and a third-rounder in 2024.
Drafted by the Caps in 2009, Orlov had been the fourth-longest tenured Capital before the deal. Only three defensemen - Calle Johansson, John Carlson and Rod Langway - played more games in a Washington sweater than Orlov (686), and he was a critical part of the Caps' only Stanley Cup championship team in 2018.
The last time Washington traded away a player it drafted who had been with the organization for a comparable time period was just over 19 years ago - on Feb. 18, 2004 - when it traded Peter Bondra to Ottawa.
"I think that was obviously tough," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "He's been here a long time, and just the fact that he was on his way to the [Thursday] game [against Anaheim when he found out] made it tough for him. But at the same time, that's basically what we sign up for when we started playing this game. We knew that could happen, but both of those guys are great hockey players and great people. I just think that it's a tough part of this business.
"We wish them luck. They're great players, and they will succeed."
Hathaway played almost four full seasons in Washington prior to the trade, and he was a fixture on the right side of the fourth line with close friend and former podcast co-host Nic Dowd. Hathaway was also a penalty killing stalwart and a fearless shot blocker whose physicality should prove to be a big asset for the Bruins at his next stop. Hathaway grew up in Maine and played collegiate hockey in New England, so he is heading "home," in a sense.
"I talked to [Hathaway Thursday] night on the phone, and I went and had a coffee with him [Friday] morning," says Dowd. "I think the emotions he is going through are all pretty natural. He is a little shocked and upset that he is having to leave this organization. He has two kids here, his wife, his job. He has loved coming in here every day. He's got a good friend group, he's got good neighbors, and he has been in the same neighborhood his entire career here. He has set up a life here, and they lived here over the summer. So they've been here for the better part of four full years. That's a long time.
"But on the other side of that, I think he is excited. He is going to get to play for the closest team to his hometown. He has some family that lives in Boston and they spend some summers in Boston and they know they area well. So I think he couldn't have been traded to a better spot for him personally, and obviously it's a good organization and a very good hockey team. And I think [the Bruins] are going to be very happy that they don't have to play against him, for the time being. I think they're going to be very happy with how he is going to perform there, and I wish him all the luck."
The 33-year-old Smith began his NHL career with Nashville in 2011-12, and he played several seasons under current Caps coach Peter Laviolette while in Music City.
"Craig is a hard-working right winger," says Laviolette. "He's got good speed, he competes. I think he has had maybe five 20-goal seasons, and so he is capable of scoring goals. He's got a good shot. Good person, good player."
Orlov, Hathaway and Smith are all impending unrestricted free agents as of July 1, and the Caps' roster is dotted with several other soon-to-be unrestricted free agents. With the trade deadline looming on March 3, more moves could be in the offing for the Capitals, who appear to be in a "selling" mode ahead of the deadline. The last time the Caps were sellers was 16 years ago, late in Alex Ovechkin's sophomore season in the NHL.
"It's always tough when players leave a team," says Laviolette. "You process that information on the day that it happens, and then you see the guys are getting their equipment this morning, and there's some goodbyes that go on there, especially for a guy like Dmitry, who has been here for so long and was drafted by the club.
"I think guys are moving through that. It was good to go out and get a skate and a sweat with our group here now and get ready for the game [Saturday]. But I don't know if you just wake up and it's over, especially when they're back here the next day getting their gear and stuff."
Heading into Friday's slate of NHL activity, the Capitals find themselves just two points south of the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Since their last victory - a 2-1 win over the Bruins in Boston on Feb. 11 - they've been in free fall in the standings, dropping five slots - from seventh to 12th - with those six setbacks. Washington has also lost five straight home games in regulation. At this time last season, the Caps were in the midst of a six-game regulation losing streak on home ice, a skid that stretched from Jan. 24-Feb. 28, 2022.
In light of the team's extended slide - a rarity in these parts during the Ovechkin era - and the jarring trade of two revered and well-liked teammates, all the Caps can do is forge ahead and try once again to get back into the win column against the Rangers. The game against New York is the start of a set of weekend matinee matches for the Caps, who will open a four-game road trip - their last road foray of more than two games in duration this season - on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo.
"We've got to stay dialed in," says Laviolette. "Obviously we're in a spell where winning games is difficult right now for us, and we've got to continue to try to find ways to do that. There's a big game at 1 o'clock [Saturday], and then we get on the road and go to Buffalo, which is another big game in the standings with regard to that. So we'll continue to push to try and win hockey games."
The Rangers are fairly firmly settled in the third spot in the Metropolitan Division standings, without much in the way of either upward or downward mobility. With the deadline approaching, New York has been proactive buyers this season, adding veteran scoring winger Vladmir Tarasenko in a deal with St. Louis and bringing bottom six forward Tyler Motte back for a second stint as a Blueshirt, getting him in a deal with Ottawa.
New York is rumored to be still seeking to add beyond those aforementioned additions, too. Although they come to town lugging a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) of their own, the Rangers won seven straight games ahead of that skid. With a 17-6-5 road mark in 2022-23, the Rangers boast the League's fifth best road record from a points percentage (.696) standpoint.
