The New York Islanders announced the fate of Alexander Romanov this afternoon after a scary hit into the boards from Mikko Rantanen last Tuesday. The defenseman will have shoulder surgery and will be out 5-6 months. Based on the timeline, any return by season’s end would be favorable.
While the 25-year-old does not jump out on the stat sheet most games, Romanov brings a very steady defense-first game, usually playing north of 20 minutes a night, which earned him an eight-year deal last summer worth $6.25MM per season.
With the Islanders exceeding expectations greatly so far this season, on a nice 6-3-1 streak in their last ten games, good for third place in the Metropolitan, it is devastating news. New York has a steady core of veterans on the backend, along with the emergence of young superstar Matthew Schaefer who remarkably is already a major minute-eater at 18-years-old, but Romanov’s stay-at-home play will be difficult to replace. The team recalled Marshall Warren earlier in the week with Romanov landing on IR, but the hope then was certainly that Romanov’s season would not be in jeopardy.
New York hosts Seattle this evening, and eyes will be on GM Mathieu Darche if he is to make an addition at some point to fill for Romanov’s void. With Pavel Mintyukov’s name floating around lately, such a move could allow the Islanders to maintain their momentum while simultaneously getting younger on the back end. Regardless, it will be critical to protect Schaefer and continue to keep him in the right situations. For now, losing Romanov is an especially tough blow from an avoidable hit which immediately caught the attention of the league.
Damn tough blow for the Islanders, Rantanen gets nothing for that hit but then 1 game for his hit on Coranato for his 2nd Boarding Game Misconduct in 3 games… Rantanen is a great player and i wouldnt even call a dirty player, but thats really light and should piss off Islanders and Flames fans, though he lacks a history but im not sure Rempe Wilson or Raffi Torres had 2 Game Misconducts in a 3 game span, that is a lack of discipline
I do wonder if there are some creative ways to help teams that are victims of these incidents while also punishing the offending teams. For example, maybe if a player has to go on LTIR specifically because of an illegal play where another player is fined or suspended then in that specific case it’s like it used to be where the team gets the cap relief. And to add onto that, maybe the offending team has to spend the money.
So in this example, the Islanders could add $6.5 mil in a trade and the Stars would be forced to pay them whatever money is added.
Why do this if you can just suspend a dirty player 25 games? For reference: David Perron suspension for 6 games, cross check to Zub in retaliation for Larkin’s injury. Zub didnt get injured and finished the game. Romanov got severy banged up and is gonna be out half a year after a prime dirty hit. Rantanen could’ve killed him and gets just 1 game? Where’s logic in all of this? Might as well give him a slap on a wrist and call him a naughty boy.
Final: DOPS is a joke and is not a real job.
Because never in the history of the league, or as far back as I can remember, do these players ever get punished to match the crime.
They suspended Wil(f)son and rightfully so but this inconsistency makes me think there’s bias. Now i’m remembering Benn doing dirty on the faceoff to Pinto and Larkin. Rantanen and Benn both Dallas Stars and both got away with the dirties stuff there is. Coincidence?
How about Cooke spending years purposely trying to injure and end careers yet nothing ever happened to him
True but it was 20 yrs ago already and i dont see players comparable to Cook in todays game. Yeah we have dirty plays here and there and we will have them its in nature of the sport. What i’m talking about is if the goal is to make the game safer and eliminate plays like what Rantanen did the punishment must be instant and severe (25-30 gms). They did exactly that to Wilson but for some reason they are very reluctant to do the same thing with Rantanen (Coronato, Romanov). This is inconsistent. Maybe the reason is much more broader and tied to the current state of western societies but in this case i’ll keep it just hockey
Rantanen lying that he doesn’t play like that….then he boards another player and gets suspended. It seems that IS his game, and he will get some nasty karma.
Rantanen has always had some sand but is turning into a cheap shot artist for no reason.
link to nhl.com
In that article, The Moose is correct when he says, “…I play hard…”, but lately, he seems to have gone off the rails and his wires are touching. The really bad look in that piece is “I’ve never done that my whole career…” He can ill afford to rack up suspensions like an elephant goes through peanuts.
If roles were reversed and it was Romanov who boarded Rantanen like that, is it believable that Romanov would have gotten away with no suspension?