Great stuff. It's looking like he's slowly translating his game to the pros.
After rewatching the games post draft, that's what struck me. He had a mature game with pro ready skating and strength.
his strength is surprising as he doesn't look that strong but I notice he barely ever gets knocked down so playing against much older players and he more then holds his own.
Let's dream a bit, if somehow in the best of situations, he became a clone of Niklas Kronwall or a modern Vladimir Konstantinov, we'd be in business for a while...
I still don't see a big physical game in him, i've seen him maybe 10 times now, he will take the body for sure but most of his hits are average. I've seen some clips of big hits though, and he's got the skating/speed that he'll be able to hit someone really good and once he fills out his frame more i'm sure those hits will be more nasty. I just think they should have never said Emelin's name as I watched him after we drafted him and imo they aren't much alike although Romanov is doing this at 18 while Emelin didn't see much time at 18 but had a big season at 19.
In watching Romanov I see someone that has offensive instincts as he seems to want to jump into the play but depending on the game, his shifts can be all over the place since he doesn't play any special teams or even during 4 on 4. So he doesn't get a lot of chances and seems to prefer to keep it simple for the most part unless he sees a chance to go on the offensive. He will take the body for sure, he throws at least one hit a game, most of the hits I've seen are more just finishing checks and not like Emelin where he looked like he was trying to injure someone or at least make their life uncomfortable for the time being.
What i like is when I looked at his MHL games he didn't seem that solid in his own end but showed some things in the offensive zone. Now in the KHL at 18 and at times playing his off position in the 4 or 5 games he rarely makes a mistake in his own end. So there is hope that over the next few years he could turn into something pretty solid.