Caps have lots and lots of room with Holtby coming off the books so they don't really need to make a move. They MIGHT be down to move Orlov but the offer would have to be pretty damn good.

this makes the penguins worse.

they currently have 10.4 million in cap space with 7 roster spots to fill, a little breathing room, but not a ton, especially if they want a capable backup for samsonov.

i dont agree with that. it frees up room to make another move at the cost of mccann who was sat in the playoffs for sam lafferty of all people. montour will slide into schultz spot at less money than schultz and is a good fit as a puck moving defensemen.

Vanecek can handle the backup role, he's been an All Star in the AHL two years in a row and only costs 700K. Siegenthaler, Boyd, and Sprong are RFAs who'll be re-signed with minimal raises, say 1.2, 0.9, and 0.9 respectively. McMichael and Fehervary are expected to become full time players, and they each cost less than 1M. Kempny's likely on his way out, which saves 2.5M. Taking all of that into account you have 14 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 2 goalies with about 7.5M in cap space to add the last two defensemen. Cap space isn't an issue for the Caps this season.

Of course, even if it was this still wouldn't make sense. Orlov is their #2 defenseman and defense is their biggest area of need, so all of the savings from trading him would have to go right back into finding someone to replace him.

Caps fan who respectfully disagrees. I think Orlov is a terrific asset to move, particularly if the Caps resign Dillon. Caps need a very good right shot defenseman, a veteran goalie, some retool on the bottom 6, and to get younger and faster in general. Orlov is a very good B/B+ LD and should be attractive to lots of teams. Now, that said... not sure Middelstadt is who the Caps need. Big flashing "might not be as good as advertised" warning, if the Caps make moves, they need a little higher degree of certainty of what they're getting in return. Also, this really makes Middelstadt look so not good... https://lastwordonsports.com/hockey/2020/07/11/drafting-casey-mittelstadt-was-a-bad-idea/
TL;DR: Orlov should be traded, Caps need RD first, veteran goalie, young fast forward second.