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Alexander Romanov

Islanders Sign Alexander Romanov To Eight-Year Extension

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The Islanders are signing RFA defenseman Alexander Romanov to an eight-year, $50MM extension, PuckPedia reports. The deal will carry a cap hit of $6.25MM. The team has since confirmed the deal. He receives no-move protection from 2026-27 through 2029-30 and a 16-team no-trade list from 2029-30 through 2032-33 as part of the deal, per PuckPedia.

Romanov, 25, lands his big payday after taking a three-year, $7.5MM bridge deal from the Isles in 2022. That decision worked out well for him, and he’ll now be one of the team’s most well-compensated defenders through the expiry of his deal following the 2032-33 season.

The 6’1″ lefty has panned out nicely since the Islanders paid a steep acquisition price to land him from the Canadiens at the 2022 draft, parting ways with a pick that was flipped to the Blackhawks for Frank Nazar. He’s coming off his best NHL season yet. While injuries limited him to 64 games, he still produced 20 points for a career-best 0.31 per-game rate and averaged a career-high 22:18 per game.

Romanov always projected as a stout defensive presence; whether he would avoid being too much of an offensive liability to deploy in a top-four role was always the question with his ceiling. He’s answered it now, fitting well in transition despite never being a big-time point producer in his own right. His possession metrics haven’t been particularly impactful one way or another, considering his slightly defensively-oriented deployment, but he’s shown legitimate minute-munching ability while also generating over 200 shot attempts in each of the last four years. He’s also one of the league’s most physically involved defenders, recording 100-plus hits and blocks every year since 2021-22.

There will be a bit of sticker shock on that $6.25MM price tag for a defenseman with an offensive skill set as simple as Romanov’s. Considering the recent comparables set by extensions in the $5MM range for Kevin Bahl and Nicolas Hague, though, it comes across as fair value.

He’ll be a long-term anchor for the Islanders’ left side that still includes Adam Pelech and gained Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick in last week’s draft. The team has $14.7MM in cap space left this summer with Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom, and Maxim Tsyplakov among its notable RFAs still to sign.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Trade Notes: Rossi, Marchment, Romanov

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In an article by Michael Russo and Joe Smith from The Athletic, which was later confirmed by Patrick Johnston of The Province, there is a growing consensus that the Vancouver Canucks have made a formal offer to the Minnesota Wild for Marco Rossi. While the complete trade offer remains unclear, the trio of writers believes the Canucks proposed the 15th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft along with a player.

Johnston elaborated in his article stating that it’s unclear whether the player offered to the Wild was a prospect, or one currently rostered with the Canucks. Still, the news confirms that Vancouver is being aggressive in their pursuit of upgrading their second-line center.

While it’s essentially understood that the Canucks and scoring winger Brock Boeser will be parting ways this summer, Vancouver has over $12MM in salary cap space for the offseason. That means the Canucks could comfortably offer Rossi his desired seven-year, $49MM contract, while leaving room for a few further upgrades.

Other trade notes:

  • After signing center Matt Duchene to a new four-year, $18MM contract earlier today, the Dallas Stars only have a projected $455K in salary cap space entering the offseason. Given this, the Stars are looking to move salary off the roster, and forward Mason Marchment has found his name in the center of the rumor mill. According to David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod, Dallas is receiving interest in Marchment’s services, particularly from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Utah Mammoth. Marchment already has some familiarity with the Maple Leafs, appearing in four games for the Original Six franchise during the 2019-20 season.
  • In a new report from Stefen Rosner in Responsible Gambling, he suggests that the New York Islanders are garnering trade interest in defenseman Alexander Romanov from the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. Rosner provided context for the report by stating that he anticipates the Islanders will begin contract negotiations with Romanov in a few weeks. However, he noted that some teams expect these negotiations to take longer since the Islanders also need to sign Noah Dobson, Simon Holmström, and Maxim Tsyplakov, all while managing a cap space of only $21 million.

Metro Notes: Kreider, Ferschweiler, Nikishin, Pelech, Romanov

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Despite being mentioned in trade rumors for much of the season, New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider spent the entire year in the Big Apple. Don’t expect Kreider’s name to disappear from the trade wire as The Fourth Period reports the Rangers will again look to move their veteran sniper this offseason.

He’ll become mildly more tradeable this summer, having two years and $13MM remaining on his contract. Still, factoring in multiple injuries from this season and the declining foot speed, it’s difficult to say how much interest Kreider will generate.

The Rangers will technically have the opportunity to retain salary if they desire, but it’s likely a non-starter from their perspective. As the article in The Fourth Period mentions, the primary reason for moving Kreider is to shed salary in preparation for K’Andre Miller and William Cuylle’s new deals.

Additional happenings from the Metropolitan Division:

  • As the 2024-25 season closes, the pursuit of a new head coach is ramping up for the Philadelphia Flyers. In that vein, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that Pat Ferschweiler, the head coach of the NCAA’s Western Michigan University Broncos, could be on the Flyers’ radar this summer. Ferschweiler has been the Broncos’ head coach for the last four seasons and recently guided the team to its first National Championship in program history. He’s only had one NHL opportunity in his professional coaching career, being the assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings from 2015-16 to 2018-19.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes should only be a few days away from their top defensive prospect joining the team for their postseason run. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Alexander Nikishin has officially received approval for his work visa in the United States. That leaves an appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul on his to-do list before being allowed to play for the Hurricanes. In a perfect world, Carolina would likely want Nikishin to get an NHL game under his belt before the playoffs start, but that’s unlikely to be the case given that their regular season will conclude on April 17.
  • Although the New York Islanders failed to make the playoffs for the second time in four years, they received positive news on the injury front this morning. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reported that despite entering concussion protocol after leaving Sunday’s game due to a hit from New Jersey Devils forward Paul Cotter, defenseman Adam Pelech “is fine” and suited up for the Islanders tonight against the Capitals. Pelech is no stranger to injuries, having only appeared in 60 of New York’s 81 contests this season.
  • Unfortunately, not every usual defenseman for the Islanders suited up in tonight’s contest, as the team shared just before puck drop that defenseman Alexander Romanov is out of the lineup due to illness. Depth defender Scott Perunovich is filling the Romanov-sized void this evening. He’s tallied three assists in nine games for the Islanders since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues on January 27th.

Injury Notes: Red Wings, Romanov, Jensen

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The Red Wings lost both defenseman Erik Gustafsson and winger Elmer Söderblom to undisclosed injuries in Tuesday’s loss to the Capitals, and it doesn’t look like they’re getting either back this weekend against Vegas. Neither practiced during today’s session, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports. The former could be facing a longer-term absence, head coach Todd McLellan said. That’s not good news for a tumbling Red Wings team, whose playoff hopes are close to evaporating after a 2-8-0 run in their last 10 games. Gustafsson is third in points among defenders with 18, trailing Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider. Söderblom, who’s seen time on the top line with Dylan Larkin as of late and has 3-6–9 in 22 games since being recalled in January, is day-to-day. They could be getting veteran defenseman Jeff Petry back in the lineup soon – he’s traveling with the club on their road trip after returning to practice but won’t play this weekend. He’s been out since early January with an undisclosed injury but had just six points in 34 games to begin the year with a minus-seven rating.

More from around the league:

  • Islanders head coach Patrick Roy told reporters he doesn’t expect defenseman Alexander Romanov to draw in against the Canadiens tonight in a game with major postseason implications, per Andrew Gross of Newsday. He’s still dealing with the illness that held him out of Tuesday’s come-from-behind win over the Penguins. The 25-year-old is enjoying a strong season in career-high minutes, posting 4-14–18 with a plus-nine rating while averaging 22:46 per game. New York’s playoff chances could jump to 35% with a regulation win but drop to just 16% with a regulation loss, per MoneyPuck.
  • Senators defenseman Nick Jensen remains unavailable tonight against Colorado, but he practiced with the club anyway, per TSN 1200 Ottawa. The 34-year-old righty will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury. With the Sens having the first wild card spot in the East all but locked up, Travis Hamonic slides into top-four deployment alongside Thomas Chabot with Jensen out. Acquired from the Capitals in last summer’s Jakob Chychrun trade, Jensen is averaging 20:20 per game in Ottawa and leads the team with a +17 rating.

Metropolitan Notes: Strome, Fitzgerald, Islander Defenders

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Center Dylan Strome is in the lineup tonight after being questionable to play due to sickness, per a team announcement. He was a full participant in today’s morning skate and is centering the team’s top line between Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson.

Despite feeling under the weather, Strome scored Washington’s first goal of the game tonight against the Red Wings. His availability is key for the Capitals as they continue their run towards the top seed in the eastern conference. Strome has been instrumental to the team’s success, registering 65 points in 67 games played. He is set to break his career high of 67 points in a season, which he recorded just last year.

In his last three seasons, he has recorded 71 goals and 197 points and has assisted on many Ovechkin’s goals as the Russian sniper nears the all-time mark.

Elsewhere in the Metro:

  • Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald discussed a scary situation that occurred to his son with his fellow general managers at their annual meetings, per an NHL release. Fitzgerald’s son, Casey Fitzgerald, a defender with Hartford of the AHL, sustained a serious cut to his neck from a skate blade in a game against Providence on Dec. 28. Casey was wearing a neck guard, which is mandated by the AHL, but the skate hit above the guard, and it was very close to being a life-threatening situation. The elder Fitzgerald approved of photos being shown of the wound, acknowledging the photos could serve as a reminder to the seriousness of these gruesome injuries. While the AHL requires cut-resistant equipment, the NHL currently doesn’t have these provisions in place. While Fitzgerald would like to see this change, he is also looking toward even better advancements in protective equipment. He noted that had the skate hit his son’s neck guard, it wouldn’t have prevented the cut from taking place in that particular situation. But better preventative measures, including wider neck straps, could help prevent serious cuts.
  • The Islanders’ Adam Pelech is playing tonight against the Penguins, while defenders Alexander Romanov and Adam Boqvist both missed the contest due to illness, per a team announcement. Pelech was a full participant in the Islanders morning skate on Tuesday after missing Sunday’s contest against the Florida Panthers with a lower-body injury. Coach Patrick Roy noted his return as a huge support for the team. Pelech has recorded 17 assists, 65 blocked shots, and 68 hits through 45 games on the season. With Romanov and Boqvist out, defender Tony DeAngelo is paired with Pelech, and veteran Mike Reilly cracked the lineup for just the 13th time this season.

Metro Notes: Chytil, Kreider, Lizotte, Glass, Romanov, Stillman

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According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, the New York Rangers will operate without forwards Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider in the lineup tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. It’ll mark the second straight game without the pair of forwards.

Chytil has missed considerably more than Kreider having been out since New York’s November 14th matchup against the San Jose Sharks. He was reportedly close to a return on November 21st, but the upper-body injury is still afflicting him. He’s scored four goals and nine points in 15 games this season for the Rangers.

Kreider has only missed one game due to his upper-body injury. Through 19 games, he’s scored as many points as Chytil this year, though all in the form of goals. His offensive production has dipped so significantly that the Rangers are reportedly willing to engage interested teams in trade discussions for the veteran scorer.

Other Metro notes:

  • Josh Getzoff, play-by-play commentator of the Pittsburgh Penguins, gave a few injury updates for the team today. Getzoff shares that forward Blake Lizotte, who hasn’t played since November 13th, will be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the Vancouver Canucks. There’s worse news regarding Cody Glass as Getzoff, unfortunately, shares he will miss his ninth straight game with a concussion.
  • Defenseman Alexander Romanov is expected back in the lineup for the New York Islanders this evening. According to line rushes provided by Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, Romanov took part in line rushes at practice with Noah Dobson on the first defensive unit. He seemingly missed the team’s last game due to the same nagging injury that’s kept him out for much of the regular season.
  • It was a short stay in the NHL for defenseman Riley Stillman. The Carolina Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned Stillman to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, after only one day on the active roster. Carolina may have just used Stillman for another option at practice given that he was quickly recalled and reassigned before the Hurricanes’ next game.

Snapshots: Hurricanes, Boeser, Drouin, Perron, Paul, Romanov

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Already without Frederik Andersen long-term, the Hurricanes won’t have fellow goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for the time being as he’s now in concussion protocol, meaning their current tandem is Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets.  To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Carolina is looking into what options might exist on the trade market.  Andersen is out for at least two more months while Kochetkov’s timeline is less certain.  The Hurricanes are almost right at the salary cap limit per PuckPedia while they do have nearly $2.4MM in LTIR room if needed.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carolina was looking into players on lower-cost deals to try to give them a small upgrade between the pipes in the short term.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Barring any issues arising from today’s practice, Canucks winger Brock Boeser could return to the lineup on Tuesday in Boston, mentions Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. The 27-year-old has missed nearly three weeks due to a concussion, putting a strong start to his season on pause.  In his contract year, Boeser has six goals and five assists in a dozen outings so far.
  • Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has been limited to just five games this season after missing more than a month due to an upper-body injury. Now, the team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with another upper-body injury, one that kept him out of the lineup against Tampa Bay.  Drouin has been productive when in the lineup as he has two goals and two helpers in his limited appearances so far.
  • Senators winger David Perron was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Calgary due to an upper-body injury, relays TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link). The veteran returned to Ottawa’s lineup a little over a week ago after taking time away when his newborn daughter needed to undergo surgery.  It has been a rough go on the ice for Perron’s first season with the Sens as he has been held without a point for his first nine games of the season.
  • Lightning forward Nick Paul will miss at least this week with the undisclosed injury that has held him out for nearly a week now, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider (Twitter link). The 29-year-old had gotten off to a nice start offensively before the injury, notching five goals and eight assists in 17 games while seeing time at both center and the wing.
  • Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov just returned to the lineup after recovering from a nagging injury but was a late scratch tonight. However, it wasn’t a recurrence of the injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old was scratched due to being sick and is listed as day-to-day.  Romanov has two assists, 27 blocks, and 31 hits in 11 games so far this season.

Metropolitan Notes: Chytil, Romanov, Devils, Jarvis

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It appears to be good news on the injury front for Rangers center Filip Chytil.  After being held back from their road trip amid concerns of a possible concussion, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan relays that the 25-year-old has been cleared to join the team and will catch up with them in Calgary.  However, that shouldn’t be viewed as Chytil being cleared to play as he’s still listed as day-to-day.  Chytil is off to a good start this season for New York, notching four goals and five assists in 15 contests despite averaging just 13:40 of playing time per game, his lowest ATOI since his rookie season.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • The Islanders announced (Twitter link) that blueliner Alexander Romanov was cleared to return for tonight’s game against Calgary. Originally diagnosed as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, the 24-year-old has only played once in the last three weeks, sitting for more than two after trying to return early.  He’s a welcome addition to a back end that’s also missing Adam Pelech and Mike Reilly.  Romanov has two assists in eight games so far this season with a career-high ATOI of 21:37.
  • Devils winger Timo Meier (back spasms) and defenseman Brett Pesce (maintenance day) didn’t take part in practice today, relays James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. However, both players aren’t expected to miss any time.  Meanwhile, winger Nathan Bastian returned to practice despite being moved to injured reserve yesterday.  He has missed close to three weeks due to a fractured jaw but while he’s now back on the ice, he’s not quite ready to return to the lineup just yet.
  • While Hurricanes winger Seth Jarvis skated today in a non-contact jersey, he is listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is dealing with an upper-body injury and was moved to injured reserve retroactive to last week, meaning he can be activated as soon as he gets the green light to return.  Jarvis is off to a solid start to his season with four goals and seven assists in 13 games before sustaining the injury.

Mike Reilly Out Indefinitely After Heart Surgery, Other Islanders Updates

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Cory Wright of the New York Islanders issued several injury updates this afternoon including one unfortunate update for a member of the Islanders’ defense. The organization announced that defenseman Mike Reilly has fully recovered from his concussion suffered on November 1st but underwent a procedure on his heart that will keep him off the ice indefinitely.

There shouldn’t be any long-term concerns for Reilly’s health after fully recovering from the surgery according to a few quotes from New York’s general manager and president of hockey operations, Lou Lamoriello. Lamoriello said, “It was picked up through the different echocardiograms that you do for different reasons that you go through with any post-concussion situation. It’s probably a blessing in disguise of what transpired. They detected this, something that you’re sometimes born with, but never knew. [His quality of life will be] 100% and he will be able to play once this procedure is done. It takes quite a bit of time. It could be several months before he’s back, because of the type of procedure“.

Because of the uncertainty of the recovery process, it’ll likely be some time before the Islanders issue any formal updates on Reilly’s status. Considering Lamoriello mentioned it could take several months, there’s every likelihood Reilly won’t return until next season.

The puck-moving Chicago native has played in 70 games for New York since being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers last year. He’s been a steady offensive performer over that stretch with six goals and 24 points, averaging 17:01 a night in an Islanders’ sweater.

The team also issued updates on Alexander Romanov, Anthony Duclair, Mathew Barzal, and Adam Pelech in the announcement. Romanov, the closest to returning, is still considered day-to-day and will be a game-time decision for tomorrow night’s contest against the Calgary Flames.

On the longer-term end, neither Duclair, Barzal, or Pelech have resumed skating, but the team hopes Duclair will soon. He’s been out with a lower-body injury since October 19th and was originally given a four—to six-week recovery timeline.

Barzal and Pelech haven’t been out as long as Duclair. The two were injured in back-to-back games in the first week of November and still haven’t been cleared by the team’s medical staff.

Metro Notes: Karlsson, Flyers, Romanov

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In a hard-hitting piece for The Athletic, Josh Yohe highlights internal frustrations within the Pittsburgh Penguins regarding Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson. Yohe unabashedly describes Karlsson’s poor defensive play, and the Swede’s public praise of his own game is drawing discontentment from the Penguins’ coaching staff.

Karlsson’s offensive play throughout his career has typically masked most of his defensive drawbacks, but they’re becoming too consistent to overcome. The three-time Norris Trophy winner normally produces a positive Expected +/-, thanks to the number of goals he creates, but this season is only one of three that has him in the red of that category.

His 87.3% on-ice save percentage at 5-on-5 is nearly two points lower than his previous career-worst suffered in back-to-back years with the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks in 2017-2019. Karlsson’s defensive play at this point in the regular season has him headed toward a reality of only being trusted with powerplay minutes, which is a major disappointment for a defenseman $10MM for the next three years.

Other Metro notes:

  • There haven’t been many trade rumblings outside Rasmus Ristolainen for a 29th-ranked Philadelphia Flyers team. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period added two more names to that list this afternoon — Scott Laughton and Nicolas Deslauriers. Both players have relatively low cap hits at $3MM and $1.75MM, respectively, but have another year on their deals after this season. Pagnotta argues that with two out of three retention slots available, the Flyers could get creative with salary retention to maximize any return offers.
  • Defenseman Alexander Romanov has missed seven of the last eight games for the New York Islanders with an upper-body injury. Ethan Sears of the New York Post reported Romanov took part in the team’s practice today albeit in a non-contact jersey. It’s an encouraging sign for Romanov who recently skated in 24 minutes of the team’s game against the Buffalo Sabres in a winning effort. It’s unclear if Romanov reaggravated his injury in that game or if simply wasn’t healthy enough to return originally.

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