The Boston Bruins added Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway and Tyler Bertuzzi at the deadline. There’s speculation on the likelihood of them staying past this year.
The Boston Bruins significantly bolstered their roster before the trade deadline by acquiring Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from Washington and Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit. They're UFAs at season's end and are considered rental players for the coming 2023 playoffs.
Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic wondered if it was possible for the Bruins to retain at least one of them. He pointed out that they re-signed previous deadline acquisitions, such as Hampus Lindholm and Taylor Hall, to long-term contracts.
Shinzawa acknowledged the Bruins' cap constraints for next season could make that difficult. They have about $75 million invested in 15 players for 2023-24 and up to $4.5 million in potential bonus overage penalties for Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
CapFriendly indicates Orlov, 31, is completing a six-year contract with an average annual value of $5.1 million. The 28-year-old Bertuzzi is finishing a two-year deal with an AAV of $4.75 million, while the 31-year-old Hathaway is coming off a four-year contract with a $1.5-million annual cap hit.
Getting Orlov, Hathaway or Bertuzzi to stay with an established contender in Boston beyond this season would require their willingness to accept less than market value on what could be short-term contracts. That seems unlikely, especially for Orlov and Bertuzzi. This is their first opportunity to test the open market and their best shot at maximizing their value.
Shinzawa believed the Bruins would have to shed salary to retain any one of those three players. That could mean shopping Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort as well as finding someone willing to take Mike Reilly and his $3-million cap hit for 2023-24 off their hands.