Montreal Canadiens: Alexander Romanov – The Rise of The Czar

On Feb. 26, 2015, Marc Bergevin made a trade that didn’t make too much noise in the hockey world. Little did everyone know at the time, that this trade would eventually play a major role in forming the core of the Montreal Canadiens for years to come.

Something weird was happening within the organization that year. The Montreal Canadiens had just posted consecutive 100+ point seasons under Michel Therrien. The team went through a shift in leadership by letting go of former captain Brian Gionta via free agency, having a full season without a captain and then the sudden, and shocking, nomination of Max Pacioretty as the 29th captain in franchise history. Many fans were upset at this pick despite Pacioretty being the team’s top offensive player. P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov were the names thrown around the most often.

Carey Price, fresh off a Hart and Vezina winning season, got injured 12 games into the season and that immediately killed any momentum the team had early in the season. The Canadiens inexplicably rode Mike Condon as the starter all season, having him start in 55 games while Ben Scrivens, Charlie Lindgren and Dustin Tokarski all rotated as backups. That one injury caused the Habs to go from #1 in goals against the previous season to #21, and played mostly uninspired hockey all year despite a 30-goal season from both the new captain and a 21-year-old Alex Galchenyuk.

So with the Habs floundering at the bottom of the standings and the trade deadline coming up, Bergevin was not hesitant to unload his depth for future assets. That’s when that trade on Feb. 26 went down.

Letting Dale Weise go was a stinger to the fans. The team was letting a popular player go and many were upset that the team let such a hard-working player go. “The Dutch Gretzky” had his best years with the Montreal Canadiens and played a clutch role in the previous playoffs. The love of one’s culture was slightly appeased, however, as a Quebecer was coming back to Montreal. A former 1st round pick to boot.

“Phillip Danault is a young and gifted player who will be part of our core group of young forwards for many years to come. I am very pleased to have him join our organization. As a member of the Blackhawks management group, I was instrumental in the selection of Phillip in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft. Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann have both been good contributors to our team and I would like to wish them the best of luck with the Blackhawks’ organization.” – Marc Bergevin via NHL.com

Fast forward to 2018 in Dallas, host to the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. After an abysmal 71-point season, the Canadiens were in the lottery draft and jumped up to #3. Marc Bergevin and his team worked frantically through the days and nights leading up to the draft to get a deal with the Buffalo Sabres who held the #1 pick. With all the rumours that captain Max Pacioretty had asked for a trade, it was no stretch of the imagination that he was offered to the Sabres for that #1 pick. Ultimately, the rankings remained and the Canadiens selected Jesperi Kotkaniemi, 3rd overall.

Another player from Finland, Jesse Ylönen, was picked 35th overall in the 2nd round. The Montreal Canadiens then picked again at #38, the pick they acquired in the Dale Weise trade two years prior, and selected from CSKA-2 of the Russian Juniors League, defenceman Alexander Romanov.

The French media at the time were starting to get a tad aggressive after this pick. The shock of picking Kotkaniemi over Filip Zadina – who was considered as the favourite to go #3 along with Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes – was already a tough pill to swallow. Especially for a specific lady who was in the crowd that day.

The selection of Romanov was met with questions as we knew practically nothing about him other than the eventual discovery of his lineage. The “experts” say he’s six feet, about 210 pounds and plays a similar game to fellow countryman Alexei Emelin. Not bad, but again, we know nothing about this kid.

Alexander Stanislavovich Romanov was born on Jan. 6, 2000 in Moscow, Russia to parents Natalia Romanova and Stanislav Romanov. His father, Stanislav, played in various versions of the Soviet and Russian hockey leagues until the creation of the KHL. His career, spanning 15 years, included several stints with CSKA Moscow, the team his son would ultimately play 2 seasons in before reaching the NHL, as well as representing Russia at the 1995 World Cup. He is now a very popular player agent in Russia having also recently represented Slava Voynov in his bid to return to the NHL.

His maternal grandfather is Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, who is somewhat of a legend in Russian hockey history. Bilyaletdinov was a defenceman for HC Dynamo Moscow for his entire playing career between 1973 and 1988, before ultimately being relegated to the 2nd division HC Dynamo Moscow II in the USSR III League for the final two seasons in his career. He finished his playing career with 151 points in 588 games played.

Bilyaletdinov was also a regular player for the Soviet Union’s Red Army team. He won gold at the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo and was part of the team that was ultimately upset by the young Americans at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

After his playing career, Bilyaletdinov would have a short stint in North America as an assistant coach for the Winnipeg Jets from 1993 to 1995, the Springfield Falcons of the AHL in 1996 and finally one season with the Phoenix Coyotes the following season. At the end of the season, he would return to Russia to become head coach of the only team he ever played for, Dynamo Moscow. In 2004, he would then join AK Bars Kazan as their head coach. The team would eventually join the newly founded KHL in 2008 and win the inaugural Gagarin Cup, a feat Bilyatedinov would repeat twice, finishing his career with three cups upon his retirement in 2019.

Having coached former and future NHLers such as Alexander Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as former and future Montreal Canadiens such as Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin and Oleg Petrov just to name a few, you can bet young Alexander had a few serious talks with his grandfather. Needless to say, the combination of experience that lies within the family must make Alexander already extremely knowledgeable of not only the players’ side of the game, but the business side as well.

The Iron Curtain still somewhat exists in this modern era of Russia but we can suppose the Montreal Canadiens scouts must’ve heard or seen something they liked from Alexander Romanov in his teen years. After playing for Krylia Sovetov in Moscow in the U16 league in 2015-16, Romanov was bumped up three leagues during the 2016-17 season, playing in the U17, U18 and ultimately the MHL, or Junior Hockey League, considered to the top junior league in the country.

His development was becoming fast and furious as he was developing more speed and grit to his game as well as showing incredible hockey senses and regularly contributing offensively. All leagues combined, he would finish his season with six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 48 games, which is nothing short of incredible for a 16-year-old defenceman constantly being pushed to stronger leagues.

The 2017-18 season is most likely where Trevor Timmins and his staff had their eyes open and decided they wanted to draft Romanov. While firmly set in the MHL, Romanov would be chosen to represent Russia in various U18 tournaments as well as the IIHF Tournament. Once again, he displayed poise and played at an elite level being used in all situations and on the top defensive pairing by his coaches.

After being drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, Romanov was set to play with men, having now signed a contract with CSKA Moscow in the KHL, his father’s former team. Now thanks to social media and his incredible play on the international stage, the fans were finally introduced to why the Habs picked Romanov in the first place.

Needless to say, fans in Montreal were finally getting an idea why this kid was special and now the impatience was starting to kick in. After rumblings that CSKA Moscow was doing everything in their power to keep Romanov in the KHL, the young Russian finally let out that his dream was to play for the NHL. The Canadiens did what they had to do and got Romanov to sign his entry-level deal on July 13, 2020, effectively burning the first year of his contract, just so the Habs could make sure he could come to North America.

Romanov played all but two games this season and has shown flashes of his brilliance and intensity on more than one occasion. The comparisons to Alexei Emelin were justified due to his physical play, but no one expected him to give us flashes of another famous Russian blueliner in Andrei Markov either. A dangerous combination of speed and agility has shown us that Romanov is ready for prime time and will quickly climb to become a top 4 and eventually a top 2 defenceman with the team.

Since being drafted, Romanov has insisted on learning how to speak English. Probably at the suggestion of his father and grandfather, he has practiced and studied the ways to handle the media and he has done so with calmness and elegance thus far. He is not shy to say when he doesn’t fully understand a question and he’ll always take the time to speak to the Russian media, who follow him everywhere he goes.

There have been numerous reports by fans that he has taken the time to speak to Montrealers on the streets as he has been spotted at all the popular places in town while sight-seeing. Everyone says he was shy due to the language barrier but always took the time to say hello, or even a very heavy Russian sounding “Bonjour.”

Alexander Romanov will become a very good and important piece of the puzzle not just for the club but for the city of Montreal as well. This is someone who knows what is expected of him and someone who is working hard not just to be successful in the NHL, but successfully adapting to a unique city, culture, country and overall completely different way of life.

We have seen many players struggle with adapting to the western lifestyle. However, as fans have seen this young athlete take leisurely strolls in Angrignon Park in Lasalle or Old Montreal with his fiancée, it is clear that he is soaking it all in and making his new city part of his identity.