Prospect Info: [2018 - 38th] Alexander Romanov (KHL - CSKA Moscow)

[Locks]

The Draft Analyst really liked him at the WJCA :

LHD Alexander Romanov (Krasnaya Armia, MHL): Romanov is a powerful skater who combines size and speed into one strong package. Ever the opportunist, the teenage defender consistently looks to either join a rush or create one himself with either his legs or with deadly accurate stretch passes. You have to keep an eye on him during dump-ins, as Romanov pivots quickly with his head up and can catch opponents in a line change. He was used in every situation (Power play, penalty kill, late/close draws) and displayed reliability in all three zones. Romanov was able to find openings once inside the opposing blue line thanks to keeping his feet moving and showing a strong desire to gain control of the puck. He has a devastating shot — wrist or slap — and can score from distances well above the circles. From a physical standpoint, Romanov looks to make jarring hits in open ice but without needing to travel across a big patch of ice to deliver hit. His upper body is very strong, and in close-quarter puck battles he was able to outmuscle opponents of all sizes. Play during one-on-one was relative solid, as he showed a proclivity for staying tight with his man near the blue line and closing with speed and an active stick.

 

[Habby Patty]

For example:

Thanks brother

 

[WeThreeKings]

The guys covering the draft compared him to Nate Schmidt.. Romanov has a better shot than Schmidt, but he is definitely that type of defenseman.

 

[Jee]

Very intrigued with this pick, can't wait to see how he will develop.

 

[montreal]

How is the drafting better? The results of the prospects making roster and all the comments of lack of trade assets is self evident of draft quality under MB. Aside from three top 10 picks (two of which already gone), the results are pretty mediocre relative to rest of the NHL. The history with Russian D is mostly pre-Bergevin.

We'll see if it is or not. You have '12 where had they just handled Galchenyuk better and say they got the Collberg pick right and that draft would be seen as one of our better with Galchenyuk, Hudon and Collberg. But it didn't go as well as it should have. Some on Timmins, some on MB/MT/CJ/Galchenyuk/Collberg.

'13 they went too safe and too much for size, I'd wager a lot that Churla/MB had a hand in this but Timmins did say they learned from that draft and you have 3 NHLers with over 100 games each. Now we don't really know what we have in Lekhonen yet, or what kind of future Ghetto has and DLR went from an afterthought by many to looking like he might be a solid 4th liner on a top team. There's still some hope that McCarron turns into a solid 4th liner. If Reway doesn't have his illness I think he would have been an NHLer at some point until he butted heads with Julien and got sent packing.

So the drafts they had the picks, they should have done better but didn't. Then you have '14 t0 '16 drafts and that's more on MB imo. 3 picks inside the top 70 in 3 years is f***ing brutal. You just can't do that and expect results. Overall we had 17 picks in 3 years with 11 of them in the triple digits (100+ OA) That said Timmins did what I think is going to look very good with those 3 picks in Sergachev, Scherbak and Juulsen. Then you have to see what you have in Mete, Evans, Bitten, Vejdemo, Addisson, Lernout, Hawkey.

'17 so far looks the part, now we need to see how it does this year. Huge fan of the Poehling/Brook picks, I think they are going to be very big for us but we'll have to wait and see. What Primeau did was mind boggling let alone for a 7th round pick. There's a lot to like from this draft.

Right now things are just very much in the air. The first two drafts were ones that should have nailed and they didn't for various reasons. Then they screwed Timmins for the next 3 with having so few picks and so few top 60 picks. He still made some good picks imo, that we'll start to see more if that's so or not. In time we'll see what the last two draft classes bring.

 

[jaffy27]

He'll have a full beard within a month.

Make him live with Weber if he makes the team lmao and pair him as well... at least once in a while.

THey can work on his staring skills at the same time......have staring contests in the basement, scare the shit out of people

 

[MarkovsKnee]

wasn't he the best russian Dman in the tournament ? They must've thought he'd be gone by their next pick.

That's what Timmins essentially said. I think they were going to pick Woo & decided not to wait on Romanov once Woo went. Lots of D went between the Ylonen and Olofsson picks. I figured Montreal would take a D at either 35 or 38, but Romanov was a complete surprise.

 

[JianYang]

Out of the picks, Timmins seemed to be gushing most over Romanov. You can tell that he left quite the impression on Timmins during the European Combine.

 

[Tyson]

The Draft Analyst really liked him at the WJCA :

LHD Alexander Romanov (Krasnaya Armia, MHL): Romanov is a powerful skater who combines size and speed into one strong package. Ever the opportunist, the teenage defender consistently looks to either join a rush or create one himself with either his legs or with deadly accurate stretch passes. You have to keep an eye on him during dump-ins, as Romanov pivots quickly with his head up and can catch opponents in a line change. He was used in every situation (Power play, penalty kill, late/close draws) and displayed reliability in all three zones. Romanov was able to find openings once inside the opposing blue line thanks to keeping his feet moving and showing a strong desire to gain control of the puck. He has a devastating shot — wrist or slap — and can score from distances well above the circles. From a physical standpoint, Romanov looks to make jarring hits in open ice but without needing to travel across a big patch of ice to deliver hit. His upper body is very strong, and in close-quarter puck battles he was able to outmuscle opponents of all sizes. Play during one-on-one was relative solid, as he showed a proclivity for staying tight with his man near the blue line and closing with speed and an active stick.

I love this pick the more I read.

 

[Scintillating10]

Couldn't they have selected him later?

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

Couldn't they have selected him later?

Why take the risk? If you think he's the best player, take him. Dont start to gamble in a draft you worked so much for.

 

[jaffy27]

I love this pick the more I read.

Same here!!!.....gonna follow him closely this upcoming season

Kotkaniemi
Romanov
Ylonen
Hillis
Fonstad
Olofsson
McShane

Got high hopes for these guys....this draft has the potential of being EPIC!!!

 

[Tyson]

Couldn't they have selected him later?

Timmins said he would not have been around in round 3

 

[jaffy27]

G

Timmins said he would not have been around in round 3

Gotta take his word for it......you like a player, you take him!!

 

[Weber Fan]

Hope he's coming in the CHL next year...

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

Hope he's coming in the CHL next year...

2 years in the KHL.

 

[ForeverHabs97]

Hope he's coming in the CHL next year...

Not according to his interview he said he has a 2 year contract with CSKA in KHL.

Some posters also said he wasn't drafted in the CHL Import Draft.

 

[Andrei79]

Well, watched two WJAC games (only international tourney I didn't watch this year). It's true that he showed a mature game. He often covered for his partner (Zhuravlyov).

One underrated skill for these young Ds is body position and angling the stick right to keep the puck in the O zone. He had one shift where he kept it 3 times against the CR, a la Markov. Showed a good first pass, lots of physical play, great positioning (which I was surprised at... that was his main knock from Russian posters) and excellent speed.

That said, that was B-level competition. By far the best player on the ice was Denisenko.

Will be rewatching some U18 and MHL now.

 

[Redux91]

Its just funny, because of the uproar, now i love the pick

Rooting for him hardcore now, lets hope he turns into our own Roman Josi (2nd round 38th overall '08), why cant we get as lucky ****

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

The guys covering the draft compared him to Nate Schmidt.. Romanov has a better shot than Schmidt, but he is definitely that type of defenseman.

I like that comp, and I love me some Nate Schmidt.

 

[Redux91]

Couldn't they have selected him later?

In timmins opinion, they could not, and i trust his opinion, he made a point that the russians made questionable line up decisions and player decisions and there's a hint of player favoritism in those russian junior ranks,
maybe we're lucky he didnt get as much exposure as he ended up getting
hidden gem hopefully

 

[David Suzuki]

Not according to his interview he said he has a 2 year contract with CSKA in KHL.

Some posters also said he wasn't drafted in the CHL Import Draft.

CHL import draft isn't until Thursday.

Someone will draft him and if it's a team with deep pockets he could come over easily.

 

[ginomini]

Actually if we look at the 2nd round, he does not look like a reach that much.
I agree you should not draft for need, but Timmins said they really wanted a LD.

Other LD drafted in the 2nd are in order : Perunovich, Fehervary, Tychonick, Ginning and Bahl.


I think Romanov fits right into that group and I can understand why he was they preferred in that group.

They were most likely hoping for one of Beaudin or Sandin.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Is he a flight risk or is it his goal to get to the NHL? May be a reason he was still there and our draft crew was patting themselves on the back as to why he was still there?

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

The way I see it, if I close my eyes and switch his draft position with Hillis( who was slated to go early second round on a lot of mocks but went 66th) then Romanov becomes a completely acceptable pick . So in essence the spot where we ended up picking him doesn't matter, the end result does.