It is the worst news possible for Alexander Romanov and for the Islanders.
Just three games into his return from shoulder surgery, Romanov tore the ACL in his right knee against the Rangers on Tuesday night, the Islanders announced. He will undergo surgery to repair the injury and miss 6-8 months.
In terms of immediate ramifications, the Islanders need to sort through options for their defense ahead of Thursday’s match against the Blackhawks.
Without making any roster moves, they can flip Matthew Schaefer back to the left side and move Adam Pelech to the second pair while bringing either Scott Mayfield or Matt Kessel into the lineup on the right.
If Pete DeBoer wants to keep Schaefer on the right, though, that could mean calling up either Isaiah George or Kashawn Aitcheson to play on the left. Flipping Schaefer was in no small part about giving Romanov top-four minutes, so it’s not clear whether that will remain the plan.
Longer term, this is a blow to GM Mathieu Darche’s plans.
With Romanov’s full no-trade clause set to kick in on July 1 of next season, Darche had to decide by then whether he saw the 26-year-old as enough of a cornerstone to justify a $6.25 million annual salary that extends through 2033.
It’s believed that there would have been interest in Romanov around the league should Darche have decided to move him, in part because that salary number is suddenly attractive for a potential top-four defenseman.
Now, though, chances are that Romanov’s no-trade clause will kick in with him having played just 18 games in two seasons. So not only will the Islanders be unsure what they have in him, but the rest of the league will be far less willing to take a shot on a player under a long-term contract with a complicated injury history.
