As Luke Richardson embarks on a new journey as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, the former Montreal Canadiens assistant coach left some positive marks on the club. Most noteworthy was his work with defenceman Alexander Romanov.
Marc-André Perreault from TVA Sports pointed out via Twitter how Richardson spent a lot of one on one time with Romanov during practice since his rookie campaign, helping the Russian blossom into a legitimate NHL player.
Le plus grand héritage de Richardson, c’est peut-être son travail avec Romanov. C’est fou le temps qu’il a pris pour lui. https://t.co/8CzRzWoBus
— Marc-André Perreault (@MA_PerreaultTVA) June 27, 2022
There was never any denying the raw talent that Romanov has always possessed. Fans were already excited at the idea of the Moscow native flying into the western world and pulverizing his opponents like he already had been as a 19 and 20 year old.
The early comparisons to Alexei Emelin or even Darius Kasparaitis for that matter were honest, however Richardson saw past that. Rather than just seeing a loose cannon on the ice, Richardson saw a potential to improve on mobility and hand-eye coordination.
In an interview with the French newspaper Le Journal de Montreal back in December 2020, Richardson had only high praise for the young Romanov who was coming out of the Toronto playoff bubble as well as his World Junior Championship tournament.
"“I saw him play a few games at the WJC and he is very competitive. His eyes were wide open, he wasn’t afraid to ask questions and of course, he wasn’t afraid to hit. (..) He’s extremely athletic and agile. He does all of the exercises with a lot of energy.”"
Romanov remained true to his physical style of play, however he made incredible strides in his sophomore year in the NHL. His cardio has dramatically improved and he regularly clocked over 20 minutes of ice time without much effort. He reads the play much better and is a lot smoother with and without the puck. All aspects of the game that Richardson saw potential to improve.
Certain players need that one-on-one training in order to elevate their game to the next level. Especially in certain cases, players that comes from a different continent altogether. Then again, those individual sessions were sometimes seen on players such as Corey Schueneman, Brett Kulak and even veterans such as Ben Chiarot, all players who have been able to elevate their game under Richardson.
It will be a true test for Romanov next season as he will now be flying on his own, so to speak. If he continues on the same path, things will only get better.
Remember that in all the talks about the potentials of Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Justin Barron, Alexander Romanov is only 22 years old and hasn’t even reached his prime yet.
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