New York Islanders’ Alexander Romanov fined $5,000 for charging

Defenseman Alexander Romanov hasn’t played an NHL regular season game yet for the New York Islanders. But he’s already inserted himself into one of his new team’s biggest rivalries.

Romanov has earned a $5,000 fine from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for charging New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck during the third period of a pre-season tilt between the two Metropolitan Division neighbors Saturday night.

Charging occurs when a player skates, jumps or charges into an opponent and creates a violent check as a result of distance travelled, per the NHL rulebook. In Romanov’s case, it was the jumping motion rendering him guilty. If you watch the replay here, he leaps off the ice with both skates to launch himself into Trocheck.

Romanov was assessed a two-minute minor for the hit. The Islanders went on to win the game 3-1.

Romanov, 22, was the Isles’ lone significant acquisition this past offseason. The Islanders landed him on night 1 of the 2022 NHL Draft. They sent their 2022 first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Romanov and a 2022 fourth-round pick. The Habs then took the Islanders’ first-rounder and flipped it to the Chicago Blackhawks in a trade for center Kirby Dach.

Romanov is his third NHL season. He had four goals and 19 points in 133 regular season games with the Habs. Offense was not his calling card. He racked up a whopping 365 hits over that span. He struggled defensively in his sophomore season, but so did most Habs during a nightmarish year, and he was better after the coaching change to Martin St. Louis. The Islanders are hoping Romanov, who was a top prospect with the Habs, will blossom in 2022-23 on a pair with their star young defenseman Noah Dobson. They signed Romanov to a three-year extension at a $2.5 million AAV in August.