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<\/p>\nKnown for his booming hits and ability to move the puck, Dmitry Orlov was an exciting addition to the San Jose Sharks\u2019 roster last offseason. On a defense corps that was the worst in the NHL in the 2024-25 season, Orlov was expected to help the team take the next step in its development. Not only was the Russian defenseman expected to help the Sharks lock things down on defense, but he was also expected to move the puck up to the young, dynamic forwards and help fuel the offense.<\/p>\n
Orlov\u2019s 2025-26 production<\/p>\n
And when all was said and done, Orlov did just that, finishing the year off with a career season offensively at the age of 34.<\/p>\n
Games PlayedGoalsAssistsPoints+\/-Shooting %TOI\/Game8233437-283.3%21:12NHL.com<\/p>\n
Orlov\u2019s 37 points were a career best, topping the 35 points he scored with the Washington Capitals in the 2021-22 season. The defenseman also had 34 assists, 7 better than he had in his 2016-17 season with the Capitals. <\/p>\n
Orlov was healthy. He played all 82 games for the Sharks, no small feat considering that the blueline dealt with injuries throughout the season. Mario Ferraro was the only other defenseman to play all 82 games, while others like John Klingberg, Vincent Desharnais and Shakir Mukhamadullin spent time on the injured reserve list.<\/p>\n
Forcing a square peg into a round hole<\/p>\n
What\u2019s interesting about Orlov\u2019s game is that his Evolving-Hockey regularized-adjusted plus-minus (RAPM) chart, as shown below, shows that he was incredibly impactful on the power play and defensively sound, two things that should have made him one of the Sharks\u2019 best defensemen.<\/p>\n
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However, when you look at the goals above replacement chart for all the defensemen who played 100 minutes or more for the Sharks this season, you see that Orlov was one of the least useful defensemen on the ice for the Sharks.<\/p>\n
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While Orlov\u2019s power play impact was the best out of all of the defensemen by a country mile and even-strength defense was good, his even-strength offense was actually so bad that his defense could not make up for it. <\/p>\n
Looking at the Sharks\u2019 defensive pairings from Evolving-Hockey can help explain why Orlov\u2019s numbers turned out so poorly.<\/p>\n
Defense PartnerTOIGF%John Klingberg526.942.37%Timothy Liljegren340.632%Vincent Desharnais176.646.15%Shakir Mukhamadullin109.650%Mario Ferraro102.840%Sam Dickinson70.533.33%Nick Leddy55.9100%<\/p>\n
Orlov spent more than a third of last season paired with John Klingberg; approximately 38% of his even-strength time on ice was paired with the offensive defenseman. It turned out that putting two puck-moving defensemen together didn\u2019t increase the team\u2019s chances of creating offensive plays. In fact, the duo\u2019s GF% (goals for percentage) was below 50, meaning they were outscored more than they scored.<\/p>\n
Orlov had only positive or neutral GF% with two defensive partners: Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nick Leddy. <\/p>\n
Looking at his Evolving-Hockey CF% (Corsi for percentage), Orlov was creating offense with virtually every defenseman he was paired with. <\/p>\n
Defense PartnerCF%Nick Leddy54.17%Shakir Mukhamadullin52.88%Sam Dickinson51.94%Vincent Desharnais51.74%John Klingberg51.31%Mario Ferraro50.72%Timothy Liljegren46.37%<\/p>\n
The only defenseman he wasn\u2019t creating positive offensive output with was Timothy Liljegren. Other than that, Orlov and his defensive partners at even-strength generated more offensive stats like goals as well as shots (saved, missed and blocked) than the opponents they were matched against.<\/p>\n
And when it comes to xG\/60 (expected goals per 60 minutes), Orlov\u2019s best partners were again Mukhamadullin and Leddy. In fact, Mukhamadullin, Leddy, and Desharnais were the only partners with whom Orlov had a positive xG\/60 stat this season.<\/p>\n
Defense PartnerxG\/60Shakir Mukhamadullin0.62Nick Leddy0.48Vincent Desharnais0.01John Klingberg-0.09Mario Ferraro-0.19Timothy Liljegren-0.19Sam Dickinson-1.93<\/p>\n
It might show that if the Sharks plan to deploy Orlov offensively, and it would seem like this is what the team is looking to do at least for next season, then the best plan would be to pair him with a less offensively minded defenseman, i.e., a stay-at-home defenseman. He was at his best when paired with Mukhamadullin and worse off when paired with players like Liljegren and Dickinson. <\/p>\n
Next season, a return to the Orlov-Mukhamadullin pairing might be in the best interest of the Sharks.<\/p>\n
Physical play<\/p>\n
Finally, we\u2019d be remiss if we didn\u2019t spend at least a moment on the breath of fresh air that Orlov brings to the Sharks in the form of his physical play. There were times this season when the Sharks\u2019 defense was a bit too soft, but Orlov was not one of the suspects.<\/p>\n
In the modern NHL, where fighting is a less common occurrence, Orlov delivers something that can still turn the tide of the game, legal hits that swing momentum and stir up emotion. His booming hip checks created turnovers and put players on notice. They also added a little fire to the players on the Sharks\u2019 bench.<\/p>\n
Dmitry Orlov takes out Sean Kuraly with a textbook hip check \ud83d\udca5<\/p>\n
(via @SnipeCity420<\/a>, @NBCSSharks<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/hp4VtiMPj7<\/a><\/p>\n