It was interesting when the Caps kept defenseman Dmitry Orlov around late in training camp. After all, the 20-year-old Russian is far from a finished product even if his talent is obvious. Makes sense that some more development time is in order down on the farm.
Then Orlov played Wednesday against Nashville, stayed with the team through Friday’s game against Buffalo – even though he was a healthy scratch – and then played again Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks in the preseason finale. How much should we read into that, especially after they returned veteran blueliner Sean Collins to Hershey? Well, hard to tell. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau gave a clipped answer when asked about Orlov’s status after Sunday’s game, saying only that he had to talk to general manager George McPhee about that. His overall impression of Orlov during training camp, though? Boudreau was more willing to share on that topic.
“It was just flashes. Flashes of his talent that you’re willing to say ‘Okay, listen we got to take another look at this guy,’” Boudreau said. “There’s also flashes of ‘Hey, you know what, there’s things he needs to learn. You get caught between the ‘Wow, that looks really good’ and ‘Wow, he needs time to understand the game a little bit better.’”
Every game during training camp is an assessment for young players – especially European ones who have no track record in the NHL and all of 25 games in the AHL. Orlov struggled in his first NHL preseason game at Columbus. He played really well in the rebound game against the Blue Jackets at Verizon Center last week. And he was “mediocre” – according to Boudreau – against the Blackhawks. Pretty active second period for Orlov, though, as he dished out two big hits and got involved at the offensive end. But it’s about more than that. Deciding when to make those plays matters, too, and that is still a work-in-progress for the young Russian.
“And again that comes in with the consistency,” Boudreau said. “And at this level you have to bring your ‘A’ game every night – or at least nine out of 10 nights.”
Boudreau described it as a philosophical decision last week. Do you take an obvious talent and let him figure things out at the highest level? Or do you let him build his confidence in the AHL, where every mistake – big and small – won’t be hashed and rehashed by those outside the locker room?
Not sure who in the room is on what side of that divide when the front office and coaching staff meets to decide final cuts. But I do know McPhee has almost always erred on the side of caution when possible. Mike Green, Jeff Schultz, Karl Alzner and John Carlson all spent the majority of their first full pro seasons in Hershey.
At age 20 in 2005-06, Green played 77 games, including the playoffs, with the Bears. But he did get 22 games in the NHL with the Caps that season. Schultz, a fellow 2004 first-round draft pick, played an extra year of junior hockey. But during his age 20/21 season in 2006-07 he was with Hershey for 63 games, including the playoffs, and in Washington for another 38.
The precocious Carlson not only played 22 NHL games at age 19/20 as Green had done, but he also appeared in all seven games of that ill-fated first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against Montreal in 2009-10. But even Carlson saw 61 games in Hershey that first year. Alzner, the highest draft pick of the lot at No. 5 overall in 2007, played 58 games with the Bears, including the Calder Cup postseason, in 2008-09. But at age 20 the Caps still gave him 30 games in the NHL, too.
Of the four, Alzner was the only one who played the majority of a second year in Hershey – 76 games, including playoffs, as opposed to just 21 NHL games in 2009-10 plus that devastating Game 7 against the Habs. Green, Schultz and Carlson all played at least 70 NHL games in their second full pro season
That’s a pretty good blueprint for what they want to do with Orlov. With John Erskine still sporting that orange no-contact jersey in practice five months after shoulder surgery there is a blueline spot open – if the Caps are so inclined. There are options. Leave it open and stick with six defensemen to start the year for salary-cap reasons. After all, if someone gets hurt the first two “road” trips of the season are to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Not exactly a challenge to call someone up from Hershey on short notice. Not until Oct. 26 when the Caps fly to western Canada for a two-game trip to Edmonton and Vancouver will they need to travel with a No. 7.
But if Washington doesn’t feel comfortable with just six defensemen, it probably doesn’t hurt Orlov any to stick with the team as a No. 7 and get a few games of NHL experience under his belt before Erskine is finally cleared for contact and completes a rehab stint. Or maybe they think Orlov has outplayed Schultz and will give him a few weeks of consistent playing time at the NHL level and then re-assess the situation when Erskine is ready to return. Don’t feel comfortable handicapping the odds for any of those scenarios, but each makes sense in its own way. About the only certainty is that we’ll see Orlov make some kind of impact during the 2011-12 season.
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