Since his departure from the Canadiens, Alex Romanov has established himself as a useful defenseman in the Islanders lineup.
He has only played eight games this season due to injuries, but he has done well since his debut in New York.
In addition to being good defensively, he collected 22 points in each of his first two seasons in an Isles uniform.
The former CH player is in the final season of a three-year contract that he signed in the summer of 2022.
He will be an RFA in a few months, on July 1st.
On this subject, James Mirtle (The Athletic) spoke about the players who could be likely to sign a hostile offer for next season and Romanov is one of them.
But where it becomes especially interesting is when we realize that the journalist placed Romanov in the category of “rising stars”.
To put it another way, he’s talking about players who could sign a contract with an annual value that varies between $4.81M to $7.2M per season.
If that happens and the Islanders decide not to match the offer… They would receive a first round pick and a third round pick:
More than $4.81 million for a defenseman like Romanov… It seems to me that it’s a lot.
Especially in the context where in Montreal, the Canadian has a defender like Guhle who signed a contract worth $5.5 million per season. I prefer Guhle much better to Romanov…
But by letting him go, the Islanders would potentially recoup the price they paid to acquire him in 2022.
Remember that they gave the 13th selection of the draft + a fourth round choice to complete the transaction with the Canadian… And the CH transformed this third choice into Kirby Dach.
They would therefore have been able to benefit from its performance for a certain time before seeing it cost too much.
That would be good management on the part of Lou Lamoriello… But on the other hand, there is also a world where the Islanders say they are better off keeping him because a defenseman who is constantly evolving on the top- 4 is not necessarily easy to find in the NHL.
That remains to be seen, to put it another way. But one thing is certain: in New York, we will have to make an important decision… Especially if another team decides to submit a big hostile offer in the file.
In burst
– James Reimer was claimed by the Sabres.
– He has the right attitude.
– It’s been a long time!
– I agree.
