In North America, with the advent of July 1, the calendar opened the free agent market of the National Hockey League (NHL). There was a lot of intrigue this summer, and with the opening of the market, new contracts of the league's top stars with various clubs began to fire in juicy bursts. Finally, it came to the NHL's most valuable asset, Dmitry Orlov.
The Russian defender moved from the Washington Capitals to the Boston Bruins last season. The “Capital” were not able to offer Dmitry the contract that he really deserves, therefore, at least for some revenue, one of the best hockey players in the league in his role had to be exchanged, leaving Alexander Ovechkin and all the Caps fans sad because of such circumstances.
Orlov fit perfectly into the Bruins' playing model and significantly strengthened the team, which was already the best in the regular season. “Boston” was considered such a cool car (especially with Orlov) that the Stanley Cup was given to the “bears” almost in the paws. In fact, everything turned out much more prosaic, and the Bruins were beaten by Sergey Bobrovsky's Florida in the first round of the playoffs.
After Boston ended the season ahead of schedule, the question hung in the air: “Will Orlov stay on the team, and if not, where will he go? Will there be a grand comeback to Washington? The Russian found himself a new team and became a player of the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes, in the image and likeness of their formidable nickname, even during the recent draft ceremony, powerfully scattered their draft picks, gaining a lot of Russian players, and then set about signing new contracts with their stars and strengthening the lineup.
First, the Keynes extended the team's star Sebastian Aho, and carried out a real theft — the Finn's cap hit from the 2024-25 season will be only $ 9.5 million, and the contract will be for 8 years, although it is obvious to everyone that a player of Aho's caliber deserves a lot more money. The Carolinas then re-signed Jesper Fast and then acquired Michael Banting. Goalkeepers Anti Raanta and Frederik Andersen were also over-signed, which, however, is not very good for the prospects for Russian goalkeeper Peter Kochetkov to gain a foothold in the first team. The icing on the cake was the acquisition of Dmitry Orlov.
The Russian's cap-hit is $7.75 million, which is great money that Orlov deserves to the fullest. Now Dmitry is the highest paid defender of the team, and in terms of the payroll load for the season, he is second only to Aho. For the Hurricanes, this is a great deal, thanks to which the team of Rod Brindamore, who have been applying for the Stanley Cup in recent years, has significantly increased their chances of a championship. Surprise is only a short term of the contract. Orlov under the new agreement will stay in the Carolinas for only two seasons, although he clearly counted on a long-term contract. By the end of the contract, Dmitry will be 33 years old, and the big question is whether he will receive no less solid money in the future.
Especially worth noting is the work of the Carolina bosses. After the signing of Orlov, the Keynes still had enough room under the salary cap for maneuvering and further recruiting an already combat-ready squad. Thus, the well-known insider journalist Pierre Lebrun claims that the club is still considering the possibility of acquiring Erik Karlsson, recognized as the best defender of the last NHL season. How obvious such signing is is a point of discussion. But the fact that the Hurricanes are becoming not just real, but one of the main contenders for winning the Stanley Cup is an obvious fact. The Russian defender intends to repeat the success, but now in the camp of a new team. The chance of adding to the ranks of the Russians, who are two-time Stanley Cup winners, is extremely high, although so far only on paper. The last Russian hockey player who won a valuable trophy twice in his career was Ivan Barbashev. The top forward led the Vegas Golden Knights to a historic achievement and recently signed a new contract with the Knights with exactly the same intentions as Orlov. That is why interest in the upcoming NHL season is growing by leaps and bounds.