Dmitry Orlov is Washington’s most dependable defender, which is just a longer way to say “best” but without starting an argument about John Carlson.
By the Numbers
| 76 | games played |
| 21.0 | time on ice per game |
| 12 | goals |
| 23 | assists |
| 52.4 | 5-on-5 shot-attempt percentage |
| 52.0 | 5-on-5 expected goal percentage |
| 59.8 | 5-on-5 goal percentage |
Visualization by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows lots of information for the player over the season. A short description of each chart:
- Most common teammates during 5-on-5
- Ice time per game, split up by game state
- 5-on-5 adjusted shot attempts by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- 5-on-5 adjusted shooting percentage by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- Individual scoring events by the player
- 5-on-5 adjusted offensive (black) and defensive (red) zone starts
Fan Happiness Survey
About this visualization: At three times during the season, RMNB shared an open survey with fans, asking the following question for each player:
On a scale from 1 to 5, how HAPPY are you to have this player on the team?
1 means VERY UNHAPPY TO HAVE THEM ON THE TEAM
2 means UNHAPPY
3 means NEITHER HAPPY NOR UNHAPPY
4 means HAPPY
5 means VERY HAPPY TO HAVE THEM ON THE TEAM
The numbers above show the average score for the player in each survey period.
Peter’s Take
Another strong season from Washington’s best defender. The Capitals outscored opponents 64 to 43 during Orlov’s shifts while he recorded a career high in goals, which is just one way of saying Orlov has been good on both ends of the puck. Opponents shoot less when he’s on the ice (51.1 attempts per hour, lower than any other defender), but he had the highest five-on-five goal rate among them (despite shooting less than Carlson, who had a very low five-on-five shooting percentage). HockeyViz says opponent offense was down 12 percent against Orlov, while he’s steadily increased his offensive rates to just shy of ten attempts and 0.2 expected goals per hour.
I’ve given up the pipe dream of Orlov ever being a Norris finalist. He’s good, but he’s never going to be that top tier, which will be owned by Cale Makar for the foreseeable future anyway. Instead, Orlov will have to settle for being Washington’s best overall defender. He doesn’t have the bangarang offense of John Carlson, but he also doesn’t have the I-want-to-pull-my-hair-out downside of John Carlson. He’s got genuine chemistry with Nick Jensen, even if they sputtered in the postseason.
But here’s the rub: Orlov is now on the wrong side of age thirty, which is to say my side of age thirty. And he’s got one year left at his (team-friendly) $5.1M deal. Whatever you think of Dmitry Orlov’s peak era in Washington, it’s almost over.
According to Orson Welles
Orly on RMNB
- Orlov missed a little bit of time to injury early in January.
- Then on January 10 Orlov went on COVID protocol, returning about a week later.
- Days later, Orlov got in trouble for kneeing Nik Elhers. He was suspended two games.
- Orlov vs Crosby.
DIMA GOT 'EM ABSOLUTELY HORNSWOGGLED pic.twitter.com/dDdC70PiKM
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 2, 2022
- Orlov got banged up again in April.
Your Turn
Will the Caps and Orlov meet for an extension? How long and how much?
Read more: Japers Rink
