Alexander Romanov checks (much) less than before

When the Canadiens traded Alexander Romanov on draft night in 2022, almost everybody in Montreal was taken by surprise. Lots of (including me) were dissatisfied to see the club part with the young Russian defenseman, particularly for a young forward who was sluggish to remove in the NHL.

A year and a half later on, Romanov is a remote memory in Montreal … and the forward gotten in return, Kirby Dach, is among the club’s finest gamers. He’ll need to prevent the infirmary ultimately, however he’s one hell of a healthy hockey gamer.

Why am I informing you about Romanov today? Well, since this season, one element of his video game appears to have actually altered: monitoring.

He utilized to strike like a train in Montreal. It was among his primary possessions.

When we take a look at his numbers this season, we see that he has just 49 checks in 35 video games, or 1.4 checks per video game. That’s a far cry from the last 2 seasons, when he had 227 (2.87 per video game) and 198 (2.61 per video game) checks respectively.

And if we look a little more, Romanov’s 49 checks would put him in 4th location with the Habs (the very same position he inhabits with the Islanders, by the method). He would lead Michael Pezzetta (78 ), Josh Anderson (60) and Juraj Slafkovský (53 ).

What’s most fascinating, nevertheless, is that he’s only simply ahead of Arber Xhekaj … and Xhekaj has actually just played 17 video games, less than half the number Romanov has actually played.

Is this always a bad thing? The response, according to Lane Lambert, is a quite conclusive “no”. The Islanders’ coach enjoys Romanov’s development and associates the reality that his protégé strikes the opposition less frequently to the truth that, in the end, he plays much better.

He has belongings of the puck more frequently and plays much better defensively. It’s not for absolutely nothing that he forms an exceptional couple with Noah Dobson on Long Island, and Romanov himself acknowledges that he’s attempting to play smarter instead of “attempting to strike the opposition at all expenses”.

Certainly, with the Habs’ blockage on the blue line, Romanov would have been unneeded, however it’s still excellent news to see him turn into an outstanding defenseman in New York.

And with Kirby Dach revealing his capacity as a top-6 center (and perhaps even a first-team center), the Habs can’t be too unfortunate about the offer either.

In bursts

— Nothing less.

When Arber Xhekaj remains in a scrum bullying 2 gamers at the exact same time, it implies nature is recovery, it implies the Sheriff is getting his fucking mojo back pic.twitter.com/gcrkL1xfzJ

–/ r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 30, 2023

— It’s quite insane.

— Sean Farrell remains in great kind.

— I’m believing the exact same thing.

— Oops.

— A quantity that makes individuals respond.