Offer sheet for Romanov?

Since leaving the Canadiens, Alex Romanov has established himself as a useful defenseman in the Islanders lineup.

He played only eight games this season due to injury, but has done well since his New York debut.

In addition to being good defensively, he has collected 22 points in each of his first two seasons with the Isles.

The Habs veteran is in the final season of a three-year contract he signed in the summer of 2022.

He will be an RFA in a few months’ time, on July 1.

On that subject, James Mirtle(The Athletic) talked about players who might be susceptible to an offer sheet for next season, and Romanov is one of them.

But where it gets especially interesting is when you realize that the journalist has placed Romanov in the “rising stars” category.

To put it another way, he’s talking about players who could sign a contract worth between $4.81 million and $7.2 million per season.

If that happens, and the Islanders decide not to match the offer, they’d receive a first-round pick and a third-round pick:

Looking at offer sheet targets across the NHL and which ones might actually make sense in free agencyhttps://t.co/b07UOvO19E

– James Mirtle (@mirtle) November 13, 2024

Over $4.8M for a defenseman like Romanov… Seems like a lot.

Especially in the context that in Montreal, the Canadiens have a defenseman like Guhle who signed a contract worth $5.5M per season.

But by letting him go, the Islanders would potentially get back the price they paid to acquire him in 2022.

Let’s not forget that they gave the 13th pick of the draft + a fourth-round pick to complete the transaction with the Canadiens… And the Habs turned that third pick into Kirby Dach.

They would have been able to take advantage of his performance for a while before he became too expensive.

That would be good management on Lou Lamoriello’s part… But on the other hand, there’s also a world in which the Islanders figure they’d be better off keeping him, because a defenseman who’s consistently a top-4 player isn’t necessarily easy to find in the NHL.

That remains to be seen, to put it another way. But one thing’s for sure: in New York, we’re going to have to make a big decision… Especially if another team decides to make a big, hostile offer sheet.

In Overtime

– James Reimer has been claimed by the Sabres.

We have claimed goaltender James Reimer off of waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.

– Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 13, 2024

– He’s got the right attitude.

The Pezz hasn’t played since October 27 pic.twitter.com/7Ch0OhoK1U

– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) November 13, 2024

– It’s been a long time!

The last time the Habs beat the Wild in Minnesota: March 20th, 2011.

– Rookie PK Subban scored a hat trick.

– Ryan White, Andrei Kostitsyn, James Wisniewski, Travis Moen & Tom Pyatt had goals.

– Benoit Pouliot & David Desharnais each had 3 assists.

– Alex Auld was in net. pic.twitter.com/i4W59rErdz

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 13, 2024

– I agree.

Ivan Demidov will help a lot, but he’s not the savior. It’s gonna take more! pic.twitter.com/eggnH9zAnx

– BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) November 13, 2024