Bergeron shares his reaction to Bruins’ trade for Orlov, Hathaway originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
It’s been a busy last 24 hours for the Boston Bruins.
During that time, they made a huge trade with the Washington Capitals on Thursday night to add top-four defenseman Dmitry Orlov and bottom-six forward Garnet Hathaway. The deal also included the Minnesota Wild, who retained some of Orlov’s salary and sent Boston the rights to Russian forward Andrei Svetlakov.
And then a few hours later, the Bruins beat the Seattle Kraken 6-5 on the road in one of the most exciting games of the regular season. The B’s went down 5-4 with 4:10 remaining but scored two goals over the next three minutes to extend their win streak to five games.
How Bruins’ trade for Orlov, Hathaway significantly improves their roster
What do the players think of the trade with the Capitals?
Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron gave his take during an interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” show Friday.
“First and foremost, it’s always sad to see a friend and a teammate like Craig Smith leave. I wish him all the best in Washington,” Bergeron said. “But on the other side you’re excited to add two great players. Guys who fix a need but also give us depth on the left side defensively with Orlov and the way he plays. He’s won (a Stanley Cup) before, but also lots of experience and skill and defends well.
“Hathaway, he’s really hard to play against. He’s kind of the perfect playoff style player and he’s going to help us. One of those guys you hate to play against but you love to have on your team.”
The Bruins sit atop the league standings at 44-8-5, and they are on pace to set a few historic league records for regular season success. But you can never have enough depth in the playoffs, and the Bruins solidified their depth on the back end and the fourth line with this trade.
“Yes, we were having a great year and we have a good team, but you want to add,” Bergeron said. “You never know what can happen in the playoffs. You don’t want to have injuries, but sometimes it happens, especially in a long playoff run.
“We want to go all the way, and it’s two-and-a-half months of pure grind. There are things that happen during the course of that time, and (this trade) gives us depth and options for sure. They’re great additions and great players. We’re excited to have them.”
It’s not yet known when Orlov and Hathaway will make their Bruins debuts. However, they are expected to join the team in Vancouver before Saturday night’s game against the Canucks.
