"Coach Bruce Boudreau quickly tempered any assumptions Thursday that Dmitry Orlov's continued stay in Washington signaled anything in regard to his chances of starting the year with the Capitals. All it meant, Boudreau said, was that Orlov will play in at least one of the remaining two preseason games.

That doesn't change the fact that the 20-year-old blueliner remains with the Capitals and is continuing to turn heads, though.

Orlov has appeared in three preseason games and appears to grow in confidence with each outing. Against Nashville on Wednesday, he played 16 minutes 7 seconds, finishing with a plus-1 rating and was a bright spot in an overall poor exhibition outing by Washington. "