According to RG.org, Montreal Canadiens’ rivals, the Boston Bruins, could be interested in acquiring former Hab Alexander Romanov. The Russian is a pending RFA, and both the Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers are reportedly interested.
The Canadiens had drafted the 25-year-old in the second round of the 2018 draft with the 38th pick overall. He had two good seasons in Montreal but was traded in a deal with the New York Islanders at the 2022 draft, in which Kent Hughes acquired a first-round pick he needed to bring center Kirby Dach to Montreal.
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Since then, Romanov has played three seasons with the Islanders, featuring in 221 games in which he scored 64 points, blocked 465 shots, and landed 502 hits. His past contract had a $2.5 million cap hit, and his performance has warranted a healthy raise. He will also be arbitration-eligible this summer, just like teammate and right-shot defenseman Noah Dobson.
According to RG.org, the Bruins could be working on a bigger trade involving the Islanders, with the names of Romanov, Dobson, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau all being mentioned. Should a deal occur between the two sides, the Canadiens could be facing Romanov and his gritty play, as well as Ottawa, Ontario native Pageau, who has been known as a “Habs Killer” in the past, more frequently.
After an awful year in which they missed the playoffs, the Bruins hold the seventh pick in the draft, an asset that could prove quite valuable on the market, much more valuable than Montreal’s 16th and 17th overall picks. With the core they’ve got locked up, Boston is not expected to go into a rebuild mode and would instead focus on roster players to right the ship.
Seeing their divisional rival improve with that kind of trade would be a disaster for the Canadiens, especially since Montreal could also use a defenseman like Noah Dobson, if he is indeed available.
Given how Dach has performed since the trade that brought him to Montreal, there is no doubt the Islanders have won the deal, and that would be even more obvious if they were to use Romanov in a deal to land the seventh overall pick.
Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
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