Comments / New

2018-19 Rink Wrap: Dmitry Orlov

Regular season

Playoffs

Key Stat: Dmitry Orlov finished the regular season with a 3.0% shooting percentage, which was the lowest in any season in which he played more than 5 games. The result was a paltry 3 goals on the season for Orlov, compared to 10 last year.

The Good: Although Orlov’s season was a bit of a downer (more on that in the next section), his possession stats away from Matt Niskanen indicate a player who was dragged down a bit by his defensive partner. In the 363 even strength minutes Orlov played apart from Niskanen, Orlov had a positive Corsi for percentage of 50.07% (compared to 48.12% with) and a goals for percentage of 58.14% (compared to just 43.82% (!!) with Niskanen). Similar to Niskanen, Orlov was noticeably better after the trade deadline.

The Bad: Although it’s easy to isolate Orlov’s stats apart from Niskanen, the reality is that they played 1114 minutes together and only 363 minutes apart (while during 5v5). This pairing was a disaster for the Capitals this season, to the point where GM Brian MacLellan said that he was disappointed in their play. Orlov’s possession stats were towards career lows, and he tied for a career low in goals (in seasons where he played more than 5 games.)

The Video:

Going to cheat a little bit and use a non-Caps moment, but Orlov’s dangling during the World Championships recently was seriously impressive:

The Charts:

The Discussion: The big question is clear at this point: if the Caps do not trade Matt Niskanen this offseason, would you keep the Orlov-Niskanen pair together next year? If not, how would you rearrange the defensive pairs? Further, how much of Orlov’s decline do you attribute to Niskanen, compared to Orlov himself? What would it take for you to give him a ‘10’ next year?

Other Orlov Season Reviews: RMNB

The Vote: Rate Orlov below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
%d bloggers like this: