The Philadelphia Flyers are reportedly interested in New York Islanders defenseman Alex Romanov, but at what point is paying the cost of the NHL trade market worth it?
Romanov, 25, is a pending restricted free agent in a 2025 free agent class loaded with RFA left-shot defenders but lacking quality UFAs of the same position.
The Flyers have a left-shot RFA defender in their own in Cam York, who is looking increasingly unlikely to remain in Philly with each passing day. They’ve also been linked to Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague, a 6-foot-6 bottom-four contributor and a fellow RFA.
Given these NHL trade rumors, it would appear that the Flyers are actively seeking upgrades on size and physicality on defense. Jamie Drysdale, Egor Zamula, and Emil Andrae are all heading into the last years of their contracts, and all could conceivably leave the Flyers by this time next year.
From that perspective, Romanov, if he agrees to a contract, makes sense for the Flyers. The 25-year-old Russian is a physical player and a strong penalty killer who has experience playing the left and right sides at the NHL level.
The former Montreal Canadiens prospect is not exactly the Hulk out there, though; Romanov is 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, marginally bigger than the 6-foot-, 200-pound York.
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And it’s the physicality the Flyers would be after in Romanov more than size or offense. In five NHL seasons, Romanov has yet to exceed seven goals or 22 points in a given season.
On a Stanley Cup contender, Romanov would likely feature as a middle-pairing defenseman and an insulator to a more highly-skilled right-shot counterpart, like Drysdale if he were to reach his full potential.
The former second-round pick would be a marginal upgrade over the much older Nick Seeler and a significant upgrade on Zamula and Andrae, but that would also indicate that the Flyers are done taking a look at the developing Andrae.
And what would a Romanov trade cost the Flyers?
We can safely assume that the No. 6 overall pick is out of the question. There have been rumors flying around that the Islanders would like to trade back up after picking at No. 1 to add James Hagens in addition to Matthew Schaefer, but the Flyers would be foolish to oblige given that they themselves need a center for the future like Hagens.
Beyond that, the Flyers do have the No. 22 and No. 31 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft that could entice Isles in a deal. If the Islanders are serious about their quest for Hagens, they can use one of these picks in a trade to move up in the draft order.
The Flyers would hope it doesn’t come at their expense, but in this case, that would be out of their hands given they keep the sixth pick.
As I postulated previously with New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller, the Flyers could entertain a defenseman swap involving York. If the Islanders, Rangers, or Golden Knights have different valuations of players like Romanov, Miller, and Hague, they can always try to acquire a player in York who has a different profile and may or may not cost less.
For instance, if the Golden Knights would rather spend Hague money on a defenseman with more offensive upside, that’s where York and the Flyers would benefit them. The same goes for the Islanders and Romanov, as New York still needs to re-sign RFA defenseman Noah Dobson as well.
After re-signing 34-year-old winger Kyle Palmieri to a two-year contract extension, new Islanders GM Mathieu Darche does not appear to be throwing in the towel or tearing his club down to the studs to rebuild.
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Based on that, it would make sense for Darche to pursue NHL talent like York rather than one of the Flyers’ first-round draft picks, but Romanov’s trade cost and the Flyers’ willingness to play ball remain to be determined.
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