Dmitry Orlov’s parents would be proud. The Washington Capitals Russian defenseman gets an A- for another terrific season in 2021-2022.
The 30-year-old is one of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL and last season was just another example of how good Orlov is. At the beginning of the season, I predicted Orlov would have a breakout year and while he didn’t quite get to the 15 goals that I boldly predicted he might get, he still set career highs in goals (12) and points (35).
In 2021-2022, Orlov finished the year a +25 player with 12 goals and 23 assists in 76 games played. His underlying defense was stellar as always but he re-discovered his scoring touch in the up-tempo defensive system that Laviolette plays. The one knock on Orlov was the amount of minor penalties he took, he racked up 44 PIMs, which was the second highest total of his career.
You have to go all the way back to when Orlov was an inexperienced 25-year-old defenseman to find a season that he totaled more. The penalties are what’s holding Orlov back from a solid-A.
Dmitry Orlov’s underlying analytical stats were impressive on their own but even more so when you take into account how Peter Laviolette deployed him and Nick Jensen as the team’s shutdown defensive pairing. Orlov had 56.4 of his zone starts in the defensive zone but with Orlov on the ice, the Capitals still controlled play. His Corsi For Percentage of 52.1 marked the third consecutive year that Orlov’s number was north of 50 percent.
In 2022-2023, you can expect another 10 goal and 20 assist season with shutdown defense from Orlov. That’s what makes him so valuable as a second-pair defenseman and the Washington Capitals ought to ink him to a new deal before his current contract expires at the end of next season. Regardless of the team’s performance, Orlov needs to be re-signed long term because if there are issues for the Caps, Orlov won’t be one of them.