With Joel Edmundson sidelined, Jeff Petry has lost his inseparable. He'll need a new partner, so this will give someone else a chance to step up. It's the young Alexander Romanov who will have the opportunity to play with the Habs number one defenseman. A pair with a lot of mobility, but very little defense coverage. Romanov could learn a lot from a veteran like Petry.
The young American Ryan Poehling, on the other hand, has not been paired with very offensive wingers, as he will be piloting a line alongside Laurent Dauphin and Artturi Lehkonen. Yes, he'll have a chance to show that he's ready to make the jump to the NHL, but to a point. Dominique Ducharme is obviously not putting him over the top.
