It was clear that Boston would not have the cap space to re-sign deadline acquisition Dmitry Orlov to a new contract in the offseason. After that, it was just a matter of where he'd land and he's going to Carolina on a two-year deal with an AAV of $7.75M a season, per Elliotte Friedman. Let's take a look at what Orlov can bring to his new team.

What Carolina Gets

There is not a team in the NHL that plays more through the defence than Carolina, outside of maybe the New York Islanders. Not just to recover pucks in the defensive zone and get the offence moving, but shooting from the blue line. Between them and the Islanders, shots from the point looking for rebounds, tips, or deflections are the name of the game. It is what makes the Orlov signing interesting because he's slightly below the league median by even strength shot rate from a defenceman over the last two years. Perhaps he'll pump those numbers with his new team but he doesn't play the same way that Carolina typically does.

On the ice, Orlov loves playing off the rush. Tracking data from Corey Sznajder showed that Orlov shot as much off the rush as names like Mikhail Sergachev and Torey Krug. His controlled zone entry rates were among the literal league elite like Hampus Lindholm and Miro Heiskanen, and his rate of entries leading to scoring chances was similar to Roman Josi and Rasmus Dahlin. Conversely, as a team, Carolina was among the worst in the league in creating scoring chances off controlled entries, or just controlling the puck on their entries in general. That difference between Orlov – carries the puck a lot into the zone – and the rest of the Carolina blue line – dump and chase – is what makes this an interesting signing. It could indicate Carolina wanting to change the way they create offence, to some extent, or they may try to change the way Orlov plays.

Therein lies the problem for Orlov's fantasy value. He won't get top PP minutes unless there are injuries, though he's not a guy that has thrived on power-play production. But Carolina didn't have a defenceman besides Brent Burns crack 40 points, and Brady Skjei's 38 points were buoyed by a shooting percentage more than double his career mark and 50% higher than his previous single-season high. Dumping pucks and shooting from the blue line does not lead to a lot of points, even if they play through the blue line. If Orlov can get to 40 points, that would be a successful fantasy campaign. It will play in multi-cat formats because of his good peripherals, but it's hard to see him being much better in Carolina than his 45-point pace from last season.

Though they shoot with different hands, Orlov's signing pushes Jalen Chatfield to the number-6 role, at best. If they leave Orlov on the left side, it could mean fewer minutes for Skjei as well.

We have to wait and see who else comes in, and if they change the style of offence in general, but this signing should help their middle-6 forwards on offence. It also gives them an interesting Orlov-Burns pairing if they decide to go in that direction.

Who This Helps

Martin Necas

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Brent Burns

Who this hurts

Jalen Chatfield

Brady Skjei