With their first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft…the Islanders went out and got a young defenseman and another pick?
Indeed, the team announced during the first round of the Draft Thursday night that they shipped their No. 13 overall pick to Montreal for defenseman Alexander Romanov and the Canadiens’ fourth-round pick (No. 98 overall).
Montreal then quickly swapped No. 13 and the No. 66 overall pick in the third round to the Blackhawks for center Kirby Dach.
Romanov, 22, was the No. 38 overall pick in 2018 by Montreal and joined the team in 2020 after two seasons with CSKA Moscow in the KHL. He has played 133 games over two seasons with the Canadiens, tallying four goals, 15 assists, and 79 penalty minutes while accruing a plus/minus rating of minus-8.
The Islanders used 11 different defensemen in 2021-22, and of the eight that played 20 or more games, three became unrestricted free agents and Noah Dobson is a restricted free agent.
That leaves Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield (in the final year of his deal) and emerging youngster Robin Salo on the depth chart, so Romanov gives the team another option on the blue line.
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The deal also keeps the Islanders with five picks in the draft, but they will now make their first selection at No. 65 overall – the final pick of Round 2, which was acquired from Colorado in the Devon Toews deal. They then have their own third-rounder (No. 78), Montreal’s pick at No. 98 (the first selection in Round 4), and selections in Rounds 5 (No. 142 overall) and 6 (No. 174 overall).
The Islanders’ second, fourth, and seventh-round picks were sent away in trades; the former went with Andrew Ladd to Arizona in July 2021 and the latter two were 2021 trade deadline losses – the fourth-rounder went to New Jersey for Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, and the seventh-rounder was shipped to Ottawa for Braydon Coburn.
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