Montreal Canadiens should burn a year and sign Alexander Romanov now
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.
Elliotte Friedman tweeted that the Montreal Canadiens will have a 53-hour window after the RTP-CBA agreement is agreed upon to sign Romanov and have his contract count for this season.
The clear con of having Romanov burn a year before even playing a single game with the team is that it brings him a year closer to restricted free agency. Additionally, it’ll be up at a time where management is going to have to start making difficult decisions to maneuver around the cap with it staying flat while having to pay their core players.
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With all that being said, the Montreal Canadiens should swallow the pill and have Romanov’s contract start now.
There are a lot of mysteries that can arise here, and many of them are out of Montreal’s control. Milstein has made it clear Romanov wants to be in Montreal and play for the Habs. However, the fact that the KHL has already confirmed to start in September while the NHL has no tentative date for next season (some predicting early January) could be a wrench in those plans.
If the NHL states specifically that Romanov can’t join the team for training camp or even come to the hub cities without being able to compete, it’s going to be a tough situation. If the Habs have the contract kick in next season, perhaps it leaves an open window for Romanov to return to Russia and possibly play a year there before heading to the NHL.
It’s a matter of security and ensuring nothing else can go awry. And even if burning a year brings Romanov closer to being an RFA, it could help the Montreal Canadiens as far as negotiations go.
Extending the 20-year-old for two years of work rather than three could make a difference. Bergevin tends to make use of bridge deals, and if Romanov has two decent, but not star-studded, seasons, that could keep the salary down.
Romanov is getting a lot of hype before even playing a single game, and those expectations are driving his eventual cap-hit up, but it could take longer for him to reach that kind of ceiling. Keep in mind that it generally takes longer for defencemen to come into their own than forwards.
And to add further difficulty, Romanov is coming to a new situation with smaller ice, meaning less time to think and make decisions. There is going to be a learning curve, and it could encompass those two years of entry-level time.
This is where communication is going to be key between the Montreal Canadiens and Romanov’s camp. He’s part of the future, there’s no doubt about that, and there is symbolic value in having him on the books now despite the consequences.
Look at Ryan Poehling. The Montreal Canadiens signed him to an entry-level contract at the end of the 2018-19 season to play one single game with the team while automatically burning a year. Even though it brought him closer to restricted free agency, he was able to join the team and record his first career hat-trick.
Alexander Romanov isn't the player you're expecting. dark. Next
Alexander Romanov isn’t going to have the opportunity to play games with the Habs, but there’s a chance he can be part of that group. That’s worth having the contract kick in now.