Where does Alexander Romanov fit on the Montreal Canadiens blue line?
Alexander Romanov seems to be a lock for the Montreal Canadiens and ensuring he’s in the right spot will affect how much of that potential is unlocked.
The 2019-20 season had a sense of the ‘will he, won’t he’s. Alexander Romanov increased his stock ever since the Montreal Canadiens called out his name on day two of the 2018 NHL Draft. He made the KHL as a teenager, was a star for Team Russia at the World Juniors and had the pleasure of being known as the best prospect outside of the NHL for some time.
Similarly to the NHL, the KHL halted things restarting the conversation of what Romanov is going to do. Marc Bergevin voiced his confidence in the defenceman coming over to the Montreal Canadiens and Eric Engel’s latest post on Sportsnet all but confirmed what is going on.
Alexander Romanov is coming, it’s just a matter of when.
Engel’s post shared a lot of words from Romanov’s agent Dan Milstein who not only said the team already loves Romanov but that if the season resumes, he’d like for the defenceman to play this season. The issue of burning a year off his contract is present, but the more important number is 40 rather than 10. Hitting the former of the two milestones will bring Romanov closer to free agency, limiting the amount of time the organization has control.
But either way, it’s great news for the Montreal Canadiens organization and the fans.
He’s definitely coming. He’s coming to be an NHL player, and so it’s just a matter of when.
If that’s the case, the next question is where Romanov fits on the Montreal Canadiens blue line? The Habs currently have six defencemen up with the team, not including Victor Mete, who was shut down for the rest of the season with a fractured foot.
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Ben Chiarot and Shea Weber have been manning the top pair while Brett Kulak and Jeff Petry were in charge of the second. Romanov taking the bottom pair with Christian Folin makes the most sense to start, and it’s something Bergevin said would happen at the end of February.
Folin can carry the puck, but he can be the stay-at-home portion of the combination and allow Romanov to do what he does best.
Another thing Romanov brings is more dynamics on the backend. That will make it extremely difficult for the Montreal Canadiens to keep him out of the top-four for long. His powerful skating allows him to rush the puck quickly from the defensive to the offensive zone. Romanov’s size means absolutely nothing either as he loves to get on the body and throw big hits when necessary.
Even if the Montreal Canadiens moved him up to play with Petry, I doubt he looks out of place. At the same time, it would be foolish to assume the defensive aspect of Romanov’s game would be solid right out of the gate. Petry could cover up for the lack of experience in that department, and the two will be able to play off of each other.
Romanov has been buried by the talent on CSKA Moscow at no fault of his own. However, when he was in a position to be a star, he delivered.
Next. Leafs contract comparables. dark
Who knows how long it will take for the Moscow native to reach his peak with the Montreal Canadiens. He is a defenceman, and there is no set time for players in that role to peak. But the Habs have a special one in Alexander Romanov and one of the answers to their weakness on the left side.