Montreal Canadiens should burn a year and sign Alexander Romanov now
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens will have to decide when to have Alexander Romanov’s entry-level contract begin, and given the circumstances, they should choose now.
The Montreal Canadiens have had a lot of curveballs thrown at them this season. They didn’t perform this season and were hit by a 17-18 essence of injuries. However, not only do they have a chance of making the playoffs via the Stanley Cup Qualifier, they have a chance of winning the first overall pick if eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins. But there is one more complication they must deal with, and that surrounds Alexander Romanov.
Aside from the hopes of competing, the Habs were hoping this would be the year Romanov heads to North America to join the team. The NHL pause held that back, but the dialogue between Marc Bergevin and Romanov’s agent Dan Milstein kept the dream alive. On May 8th, the team announced they had agreed on an entry-level deal with Romanov, but the starting date hadn’t been confirmed.
At that point, the NHL hadn’t decided on whether players signed out of Europe late would be eligible to play in the Qualifier and eventual Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Return to Play Plan dropped an anchor on that optimism as players in Romanov’s situation won’t be eligible to play.
That’s not the only thing the Montreal Canadiens have to worry about when it comes to Romanov. They still have to decide when to have their entry-level deal begin.
In most cases, this wouldn’t be a tricky situation at all. Romanov can’t join the team right now, so having his deal kick in for next season makes the most sense, right?
Well, not exactly.