Don Sweeney says Bruins likely won't re-sign defenseman Dmitry Orlov

BOSTON -- If the Bruins' front office had its way, then most -- if not all -- of the roster from last season would be back to give it another go for the 2023-24 season. Salary cap realities, though, are sure to disrupt those plans.

That began on Monday, when Taylor Hall was traded to Chicago. And a day later, general manager Don Sweeney told reporters that Boston is unlikely to re-sign defenseman Dmitry Orlov.

Sweeney swung a big trade in late February to land Orlov and bruising forward Garnet Hathaway from Washington, sending away a 2023 first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick, a 2024 third-round pick, a 2023 fifth-round pick and winger Craig Smith in order to make the acquisitions in the three-team deal.

That's a hefty price to pay, and it's one that typically leads to GMs ensuring that such draft capital is not spent on a "rental" player. That's seemingly why the Bruins cleared space with the Hall trade, as Sweeney sent away a first-round pick to acquire UFA-to-be Tyler Bertuzzi before the deadline. (Sweeney had also traded a second-round pick to acquire Hall in 2020, and then re-signed him the following offseason.)

In this case though, with the Bruins facing a bit of a cap crisis, Orlov -- and likely Hathaway, too -- will go down as a true rental acquisition in a year when the Bruins failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs.