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Romanov signs entry contract.


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https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/canadiens-agree-to-terms-with-defenseman-alexander-romanov/c-316861758

 

 

TBD start depending if and when season continues, or 24 team playoff option or season canceled. 

 

And if he and others signed can play this season if comes to that. 

 

Either way he is Team bound. 

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That is indeed great news. We desperately need help at LD. 

 

Commandant and other prospect experts: what can we expect from this guy, in your opinion? I have in mind that he's a potential top-2; is that accurate? How NHL-ready is he, right now? 

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13 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

That is indeed great news. We desperately need help at LW. 

 

Commandant and other prospect experts: what can we expect from this guy, in your opinion? I have in mind that he's a potential top-2; is that accurate? How NHL-ready is he, right now? 

 

He may be a third pair D right now... he's 20 years old and his biggest minutes in the KHL have been around 15:00 per game. Played some 2nd pair there, but mostly 3rd pair, and in playoffs got fourth pair ice time.  (KHL dresses 4 defence pairs).  I'd strongly consider letting him play 25 minutes with Bouchard in the AHL for half a season.  (COVID complicates that though, I can see the NHL playing with no fans cause there is tv money.  The AhL has no significant tv revenue... they aren't playing without fans, so he might be forced into a situation of play in the NHL, or sit in the press box, and in that scenario, let him play 15 minutes on the third pair). 

 

His potential is limitless.... he can become a franchise guy, get norris votes, do it all potentially if he's developped properly.  He's a top 5 player not in the NHL today according to guys like Craig Button, a top 10 prospect in the Hockey News.  Top of everyone's lists.  He dominates his age group... was best defenceman in the WJC in 2019, should have been best defenceman again in 2020, but it seemed they didn't want to give it to him two years in a row, but was absolutely dominant.  Doesn't look out of place in the KHL, but defencemen take time.  The defensive game is there... the question is how much offence can he bring, can the offence be developped into that Norris level?

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21 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

He may be a third pair D right now... he's 20 years old and his biggest minutes in the KHL have been around 15:00 per game. Played some 2nd pair there, but mostly 3rd pair, and in playoffs got fourth pair ice time.  (KHL dresses 4 defence pairs).  I'd strongly consider letting him play 25 minutes with Bouchard in the AHL for half a season.  (COVID complicates that though, I can see the NHL playing with no fans cause there is tv money.  The AhL has no significant tv revenue... they aren't playing without fans, so he might be forced into a situation of play in the NHL, or sit in the press box, and in that scenario, let him play 15 minutes on the third pair). 

 

His potential is limitless.... he can become a franchise guy, get norris votes, do it all potentially if he's developped properly.  He's a top 5 player not in the NHL today according to guys like Craig Button, a top 10 prospect in the Hockey News.  Top of everyone's lists.  He dominates his age group... was best defenceman in the WJC in 2019, should have been best defenceman again in 2020, but it seemed they didn't want to give it to him two years in a row, but was absolutely dominant.  Doesn't look out of place in the KHL, but defencemen take time.  The defensive game is there... the question is how much offence can he bring, can the offence be developped into that Norris level?

 

That's what I wanted to hear for sure 👍

 

Given this management group's habit of bringing up young players way too soon, there is cause for concern regarding how they'll handle his development. But one problem at a time.

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48 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

That's what I wanted to hear for sure 👍

 

Given this management group's habit of bringing up young players way too soon, there is cause for concern regarding how they'll handle his development. But one problem at a time.

 

In this case, they might not have much choice.  What do you do if the NHL is open but the AHL isn't?  Just have him as a Black Ace?  The same is going to be the issue with Kotkaniemi (who is now cleared to skate, but not for contact per Arpon Basu in the Athletic).  Yeah, i'd like more games of him in the AHL... but honestly i can't see the AHL playing with no fans.  The NHL has revenue streams from TV that they want to capture.  Opening the doors and paying the players (even at lower AHL salaries) is literally losing money when you have no tickets, no concessions, no parking etc... thats what pays the bills in that league.

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2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

That is indeed great news. We desperately need help at LD. 

 

Commandant and other prospect experts: what can we expect from this guy, in your opinion? I have in mind that he's a potential top-2; is that accurate? How NHL-ready is he, right now? 

Think Pavel Valentenko.:devil:

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https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/canadiens-romanov-comparable-kings-doughty-says-eastern-conference-exec/

 

 

 

"He’s more of a Drew Doughty type. At the world juniors, a lot of the GMs and AGMs were comparing him to… they said he plays the way Drew Doughty plays," the executive said. "To hit the nail on the head, the comparison with Doughty is to say Romanov wants to take command of the game. He wants to be involved in every facet of the game, and he can be with his skating ability."


When we suggested Romanov has been compared by some to former Canadiens defenceman Alexei Emelin in that he doesn’t shy away from the physical game, that comparison was quickly dismissed.


"He’s much better than Emelin," said the executive. "Way better skater, much better gap control. His gap control is his best asset, and he has way more offence than people realize."


When we interjected — saying we don’t have much evidence of that outside of the world juniors, where Romanov amassed two goals and 14 points in 14 games over the last two tournaments — the executive doubled down on his assertion.


"I think he’s got way more offence to offer than what you see reflected in his KHL numbers," the executive said. "You release him and let him be involved, and I think he’s really going to surprise. I can’t say for sure, because we haven’t seen it in the KHL, but we saw it at the world juniors.


"At the world juniors, he was always involved in the offence because he makes his pass — and it doesn’t matter if it’s a first pass or a transition pass out of his own zone or neutral zone — as soon as he makes that pass, he’s up in the play right away supporting the offence all the time. He’s always moving his feet, he’s always up in the play, and he makes plays."

 

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10 hours ago, DON said:

Glad to see it get done.:clap:

...Mete, Kulak, Leskinen, Olofsson, Ouelette, Alzner likely not happier today.

Great news, but I feel bad for Mete. I hope he is not the one D that is squeezed out.

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28 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Great news, but I feel bad for Mete. I hope he is not the one D that is squeezed out.

mete will be fine, he can really skate well.

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15 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Great news, but I feel bad for Mete. I hope he is not the one D that is squeezed out.


Mete is ahead of all those guys on the depth-chart, so he probably has the least to worry about.

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On 5/8/2020 at 9:20 AM, Commandant said:

 

He may be a third pair D right now... he's 20 years old and his biggest minutes in the KHL have been around 15:00 per game. Played some 2nd pair there, but mostly 3rd pair, and in playoffs got fourth pair ice time.  (KHL dresses 4 defence pairs).  I'd strongly consider letting him play 25 minutes with Bouchard in the AHL for half a season.  (COVID complicates that though, I can see the NHL playing with no fans cause there is tv money.  The AhL has no significant tv revenue... they aren't playing without fans, so he might be forced into a situation of play in the NHL, or sit in the press box, and in that scenario, let him play 15 minutes on the third pair). 

 

His potential is limitless.... he can become a franchise guy, get norris votes, do it all potentially if he's developped properly.  He's a top 5 player not in the NHL today according to guys like Craig Button, a top 10 prospect in the Hockey News.  Top of everyone's lists.  He dominates his age group... was best defenceman in the WJC in 2019, should have been best defenceman again in 2020, but it seemed they didn't want to give it to him two years in a row, but was absolutely dominant.  Doesn't look out of place in the KHL, but defencemen take time.  The defensive game is there... the question is how much offence can he bring, can the offence be developped into that Norris level?

 

That sounds great. I guess we are starting to see why Timmins was so excited to get him in the second round. He obviously saw things in him that other scouts did not. He certainly did his homework. 

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20 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

That sounds great. I guess we are starting to see why Timmins was so excited to get him in the second round. He obviously saw things in him that other scouts did not. He certainly did his homework. 

La Presse is having a year per year review of the drafts. 
Timmins is a good evaluator of talent despite the flack he gets 

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17 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

That sounds great. I guess we are starting to see why Timmins was so excited to get him in the second round. He obviously saw things in him that other scouts did not. He certainly did his homework. 

I think it was likely Habs euro scouts that got him on the Habs Euro-combine list.

But, just hope fans dont expect too much from the young d-man, or freak out if he gets demoted (or doesnt even make opening day roster) and spends time in AHL.

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2 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Mete is ahead of all those guys on the depth-chart, so he probably has the least to worry about.

 

I can see a scenario where his spot is in jeopardy.  In a perfect world, Montreal's left defence next season could be new guy, Chiarot, and Romanov as the top three.  Kulak would probably hang around as the seventh defender in that instance for insurance purposes in a role similar to what he had at times this year.

 

As some point, the expectation is that Bergevin will consolidate some of his assets to make a splash on the trade market.  As a (soon-to-be) 22-year-old with 171 games of NHL experience under his belt, that might give him some value along with the prospect(s) and/or pick(s) to try to land a capable top-four LD.  I'm also not sure how much they're going to want to commit to him as his ideal role whenever this retooling comes to an end is actually a lesser one than he has now.  He's a top-four option on the Habs most nights now but ideally, he's on the third pairing at best if their prospects pan out.  Are they going to want to pay top-four money to someone they likely envision as more of a 5/6 player down the road?  I'm not sure they do. 

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1 hour ago, dlbalr said:

 

I can see a scenario where his spot is in jeopardy.  In a perfect world, Montreal's left defence next season could be new guy, Chiarot, and Romanov as the top three.  Kulak would probably hang around as the seventh defender in that instance for insurance purposes in a role similar to what he had at times this year.

 

As some point, the expectation is that Bergevin will consolidate some of his assets to make a splash on the trade market.  As a (soon-to-be) 22-year-old with 171 games of NHL experience under his belt, that might give him some value along with the prospect(s) and/or pick(s) to try to land a capable top-four LD.  I'm also not sure how much they're going to want to commit to him as his ideal role whenever this retooling comes to an end is actually a lesser one than he has now.  He's a top-four option on the Habs most nights now but ideally, he's on the third pairing at best if their prospects pan out.  Are they going to want to pay top-four money to someone they likely envision as more of a 5/6 player down the road?  I'm not sure they do. 

He would also need to be protected in the expansion draft, which makes him a candidate to keep to shelter others

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10 hours ago, dlbalr said:

 

I can see a scenario where his spot is in jeopardy.  In a perfect world, Montreal's left defence next season could be new guy, Chiarot, and Romanov as the top three.  Kulak would probably hang around as the seventh defender in that instance for insurance purposes in a role similar to what he had at times this year.

 

As some point, the expectation is that Bergevin will consolidate some of his assets to make a splash on the trade market.  As a (soon-to-be) 22-year-old with 171 games of NHL experience under his belt, that might give him some value along with the prospect(s) and/or pick(s) to try to land a capable top-four LD.  I'm also not sure how much they're going to want to commit to him as his ideal role whenever this retooling comes to an end is actually a lesser one than he has now.  He's a top-four option on the Habs most nights now but ideally, he's on the third pairing at best if their prospects pan out.  Are they going to want to pay top-four money to someone they likely envision as more of a 5/6 player down the road?  I'm not sure they do. 

Mete was playing the right side a bit. They might keep him on 3rd pairing right D next season in case they can't get an extension on Petry.

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8 hours ago, Trizzak said:

Mete was playing the right side a bit. They might keep him on 3rd pairing right D next season in case they can't get an extension on Petry.

 

They might but I think they're hoping that a healthy (and waiver-eligible) Juulsen takes that spot while Fleury will be in the mix as well.

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It seems odd for a "retooling" team to keep a Chiarot, who is 29 and not too fleet of foot to begin with, over a 21-year-old Mete. Then again, the Bergevin Habs seem completely incoherent on the question of any eventual "window," so I guess this sort of thing would not be surprising.

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5 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

It seems odd for a "retooling" team to keep a Chiarot, who is 29 and not too fleet of foot to begin with, over a 21-year-old Mete. Then again, the Bergevin Habs seem completely incoherent on the question of any eventual "window," so I guess this sort of thing would not be surprising.

 

I thought Chiarot had a good season last year,  brings a physical element to the game, chipped in 9 goals and was a plus player (although we could debate the usefulness of plus/minus stats).  I think he is a pretty good value at 3.5 million a year.  I am happy to have him on the team, 29 is far from old. 

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Just now, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I thought Chiarot had a good season last year,  brings a physical element to the game, chipped in 9 goals and was a plus player (although we could debate the usefulness of plus/minus stats).  I think he is a pretty good value at 3.5 million a year.  I am happy to have him on the team, 29 is far from old. 

 

I wasn't slagging Chiarot. Anyhow, some configuration of him, Romanov, and Mete is probably a credible LD side, or will be once Romy rounds into form.

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5 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

It seems odd for a "retooling" team to keep a Chiarot, who is 29 and not too fleet of foot to begin with, over a 21-year-old Mete. Then again, the Bergevin Habs seem completely incoherent on the question of any eventual "window," so I guess this sort of thing would not be surprising.

 

For what it's worth, I don't think Chiarot is in the long-term plans either.  He's a placeholder for the youngsters if they develop properly.  A few years from now, their ideal LD would be the 'new guy' I suggested earlier, Romanov, and one of Harris, Struble or Norlinder.  One expensive player (new guy), one mid-tier priced player by then (Romanov as he'd be on his second contract), and someone on an ELC (Harris/Struble/Norlinder).

 

With regards to Mete's future, I don't think he's on Montreal's protection list a year from now, especially if Petry gets an early extension.  That would have Weber and Petry as two of the three protectees with one of Chiarot, Mete, Fleury, and Juulsen fending for the other.  Even though Romanov has played professionally the last two years, he's exempt at least.

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