Alexander Romanov played a total of 54 regular games in his rookie year in the National Hockey League. During that time, he scored a total of only six points. However, the last ten regular season games were much more difficult for the young defenseman, who posted a minus-7 rating during that stretch.
Following his first campaign, the young Russian only played in four playoff games, which led to the frustration of some fans, who pointed out that Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson were not better than the 21-year-old defenseman. But experience, especially in the playoffs, is worth its weight in gold.
Guillaume Lefrançois explained the situation very well, pointing out that Dominique Ducharme made the right decision about Romanov during the playoffs. Agree or disagree, Lefrançois is spot on!
"Consistency from game to game was obviously the determining factor, Dominique Ducharme often referred to it. Romanov had had a rough end to the season, with a -7 differential in his last 10 games. Would he have been worse than Jon Merrill or Erik Gustafsson? Gustafsson played on the power play, unlike Romanov. At 5-on-5, Merrill and Gustafsson never played together and were always paired with different partners. Could Romanov have adapted to so many changes? Under the circumstances, we can understand Ducharme for preferring veterans." - Lefrançois
The NHL is not a development league, there is the American Hockey League for that, then during the playoffs, it is even more true. We must also not forget that Ducharme recently indicated that Romanov had to calm his nerves a bit in all facets... that too is not negligible in the decision made by Dominique Ducharme.
