Hahah I can't get over how pleased I still am about this Grubauer/Orpik trade. Woke up this morning and I was like, "Holy mackerel, that totally happened for real last night!!!"
Bloated contract aside, I was a big fan of what Orpik brought to the team, both on and off the ice. Totally understand the pressing need to clear up cap space for Carlson, and why Orpik was the #1 choice to go. It all makes good sense to me, and I'm honestly surprised GMBM was able to pull the deal off with COL, with such favorable terms for each team--and even for Orpik, who will likely get bought out (still get most of that $$$) and then re-signed by another (playoff-likely) team looking for depth. I doubt it will be the Caps, because he can probably get more $$$/term from someone else, but yeah. It just works out for everyone, and that's kind of rare.