As the start of the season draws nearer for the New York Islanders, it’s time we begin to discuss expectations for every player, along with some other members of the organization.
Expectations for the Islanders this year are wide-ranging. As we conduct this exercise, we will outline both the ceiling and floor for each player this season and then set our expectations somewhere in the middle.
We’ve already highlighted Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock, and today, we’ll discuss the expectations for Islanders’ defenseman Alexander Romanov.
After being acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens during the 2022 NHL Draft, the hard-hitting Romanov had a slow start to his first year with the Islanders. He was initially paired with Noah Dobson with the thought their play styles would complement each other. Instead, the two seemed to limit one another.
As the season progressed, Romanov skated next to Scott Mayfield and became more and more comfortable in the team’s defensive system. He even closed the year having put up the best offensive numbers of his young career.
With 22 points and two goals, Romanov’s point production increased by nine in 2022-23 from the previous season. Of course, his role isn’t to provide a ton of offense. The 23-year-old was second on the team in hits last year with 198. However, that physical play style took its toll.
It was first reported by Kevin Kurz of The Athletic that Romanov underwent a successful shoulder operation on May 1 to repair an injury he suffered during the Islanders’ April 1 game at the Tampa Bay Lightning. Romanov played through the injury during the playoffs but did so only after sitting out the final five games of the regular season and the first two games of the Islanders’ series against the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round.
According to Islanders’ president of hockey operations and general manager Lou Lamoriello, Romanov will be ready for training camp in a few weeks to open his second season with the team.
Ceiling:
Floor:
