Orlov's first season was hardly a laugher. 60 games under Hunter, 3 goals+16 assists, strong positive relative possession. Granted Orlov spend a lot of time alongside Green during his first two seasons but he showed a ton more in his first season than Bowey.
That being said I'd like to see Bowey alongside Djoos, Kempny, or Orlov before I really make an educated guess whether he's got a good NHL future or not. Orpik was great off the ice by all accounts but he's not an easy player for a rookie to play with on the ice and it's not really a surprise Bowey struggled with Orpik seeing as Bowey had literally all of the transition and o-zone responsibility in that pairing. It's also not surprising that in the few minutes that Bowey spent away from Orpik he was much better, at least according to the numbers. I'd imagine Bowey's defensive game and decision making will come around once he is on a pairing where the load (in all 3 zones) is shared. I don't really buy the "one D is the transition guy, one D is the stay-at-home" being ideal. It doesn't apply to Orlov-Niskanen or Kempny-Carlson, all four of who can play in all three zones pretty well.