Montreal Canadiens trade Alexander Romanov and 98th pick to New York Islanders for 13th pick

The Montreal Canadiens made another big splash at the NHL Draft in Montreal, dealing defenseman Alexander Romaonv and the 98th pick to the New York Islanders for the 13th pick.

It was part of a noisy first hour of the draft for the Canadiens. Not only did they draft Juraj Slafkovsky first overall, instead of what seemed to be the top choice in Shane Wright, they made this trade, along with another deal that sent this 13th pick and their 66th pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Kirby Dach.

Romanov was a second round pick for the Habs in the 2018 NHL Draft, selected 38th overall. He spent the following two seasons in the KHL before making his NHL debut in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. In two season with the Canadiens, he has four goals and 15 assists for 19 points in 133 games in the regular season. However, he was not under strong favour with at-the-time head coach Dominque Ducharme when the Canadiens went on their Cup Final run, as Romanov only played four games in the playoffs.

Defensively, Romanov had strong results in his rookie season with a 54.17% shot attempt share and 53.49% expected goal share at even strength, but saw those numbers drop to 45.59% and 46.01% respectively in the 2021-22 season. That said, he saw improvement after Ducharme’s firing and current head coach Martin St. Louis took over, as he had a 47.2% shot attempt share and 47.34% expected goal share under St. Louis. Those numbers could see improvement under a well-structured Islanders team, but that will depend on if that carries over under new head coach Lane Lambert after Barry Trotz’s firing after the Isles missed the playoffs this year.

As mentioned before, the Canadiens did acquire the 13th overall pick in the 2022 Draft, but it won’t be of any relevance to the Habs, as they immediately dealt it for Kirby Dach. The 98th pick that goes to the Islanders along with Romanov will be the first selection in the fourth round.