Don Sweeney’s busy trade deadline is paying off in Bruins’ first-round series against Panthers

"I would think that anybody climbing Everest is not going at it alone."

Tyler Bertuzzi ranks second on the Bruins with six points in four games against the Panthers. Barry Chin / Globe Staff

By Conor Ryan

April 24, 2023

3 minutes to read

Don Sweeney and the Bruins didn’t have to sit at the table with the rest of the NHL’s high rollers leading up to the league’s trade deadline.

When Sweeney pulled off a blockbuster swap with the Capitals for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway on Feb. 23, Boston only had eight regulation losses on their ledger.

Sweeney’s subsequent deal with the Red Wings for Tyler Bertuzzi a week later stood as insurance following injury uncertainty with both Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno. Even with both wingers sidelined with lower-body ailments, Boston’s secondary-scoring output was still humming along in the dog days of the regular season.

But amid the grind of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one can never have enough depth.

And with Sweeney’s flurry of moves, Boston bolstered an already deep roster with three players whose experience, versatility, and sandpaper style of play were welcomed when the calendar flipped to spring.

Through just one week of playoff action, all three of Sweeney’s deadline pickups have made their presence felt on the ice against the Panthers — each playing a vital role in Boston’s current 3-1 series edge in this first-round series.

Bertuzzi (six points) and Orlov (five) rank second and third, respectively, on the Bruins in postseason scoring, while Hathaway ranks second behind Charlie McAvoy in hits — doling out 18 bone-crunching checks in a little over 41 minutes of reps against Florida.

On a Bruins blue line already anchored by poised puck movers like Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, Orlov’s howitzer of a shot adds a different element in the offensive zone.

His crisp stretch passes (five helpers in four games) have orchestrated Grade-A scoring chances for gifted wingers like David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk.

A phenomenal pass from Dmitry Orlov to David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak finishes it. 3-0 Bruins: pic.twitter.com/oSZBUwcKAd
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) April 22, 2023

But for Sweeney, it’s been Orlov’s malleable role in the lineup, coupled with his pedigree as a Stanley Cup champion with the Capitals, that has made the largest impact on this roster.

“I would think that anybody climbing Everest is not going at it alone,” Sweeney said Monday afternoon at Warrior Ice Arena. “Chances are they’ve got somebody that’s probably climbed there. And to their credit, you climb it once — to go back there and sign up for climbing again, they know how hard it is.

“But it’s valuable, valuable knowledge. We have guys that went to the doorstep and lost in a heartbreaking way. So those are battle scars that I think also served them well.”

Once part of a shutdown pairing next to Matt Niskanen in Washington, Orlov has further reinforced Boston’s layered D-zone structure up and down the depth chart.

Shifted to the right side on Boston’s third D pair next to Derek Forbort, the Bruins have outscored the Panthers, 2-0, in the duo’s 15:35 of 5v5 ice time in this series. He’s recorded the third-most minutes (9:25) on a Bruins PK that has negated 12 of Florida’s 13 power plays.

Down the other end of the ice, Bertuzzi has factored into six of the 16 tallies that Boston has scored so far in this series. Both of his goals have come off of tipped shots while fending off shoves and cross-checks in the low slot.

Tyler Bertuzzi tips Brandon Carlo's shot past Bobrovsky.

3-1 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/eD5rDbPAGb
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 23, 2023

The 28-year-old winger’s poise and half-second processing with the puck in Grade-A ice has unlocked easy tap-ins for his teammates at Florida’s doorstep.

“We’ve talked about this as a group that maybe his offensive zone playmaking ability was a little underrated,” Sweeney said of Bertuzzi. “But you’re never going to know that until he gets in and who he’s going to play with and who he’s going to complement. … He’s been a really good player for us with his versatility and again, providing the depth I think is required to have success.”

Add in Hathaway’s knack for doling out welts against opponents — and welcoming it down the other end of the ice (eight blocks) – and Boston’s deadline haul has proved its worth in the early stages of this postseason push.

“It’s really incumbent upon the entire lineup to recognize where you’re playing and who you’re playing against each and every night,” Sweeney said. “Because the margins are small.”