I'll focus on the one part of the OP I agree with - overall the Islanders are way too passive in letting the opposing team enter their zone. I would like to see the defense - as a unit - step up more and contest the entry. As a whole, they seem to sit back far too often and let the other team gain possession far too easily. I like big hits as much as the next guy but thats not necessarily what I need/want. I'd like to see the whole team -including forwards - make it much more difficult to gain entry. Even if we don't see the huge hip check of years past, I'd like to see the forwards close off the boards and make the puck carrier dump it in as opposed to ballerina-ing in our zone without resistance.
As far as big hits from Romanov, sure I'd like to see more, but overall, I'll trade his hitting prowess for being positionally sound and good puck movement any day.