The Islanders have confirmed that Alexander Romanov will be sidelined for five to six months due to shoulder surgery following a hit from Mikko Rantanen last Tuesday.
This outcome was somewhat anticipated since Romanov had already missed a previous game against Dallas due to the same incident. Adding to their woes, Jean-Gabriel Pageau is also out, with his upper-body injury being evaluated on a week-to-week basis.
This forced the Islanders to make adjustments to their lineup, promoting Cal Ritchie to the third line and moving Casey Cizikas to center on the fourth line.
Meanwhile, Anders Lee has shifted to the top line alongside Matt Barzal and Jonathan Drouin, while Simon Holmstrom and Max Shabanov joined Ritchie.
Max Tsyplakov made his return to the lineup, teaming up with Cizikas and Anthony Duclair on the fourth line. The only line that remained unchanged was the second one with Emil Heineman, Bo Horvat, and Kyle Palmieri.
Coach Patrick Roy expressed concern after seeing Romanov go down, suggesting he initially feared a more severe injury. “I thought it might be something like a broken neck,” Roy said, reflecting on the situation. The team has confirmed that the five to six-month recovery timeline applies to Romanov’s season.
If all goes as planned, Romanov could be back in April or May, potentially just in time for the playoffs. However, this situation presents complications for the Islanders, as they might need to navigate roster management under salary cap rules during that period.
Interestingly, Rantanen wasn’t faced with a suspension for the hit on Romanov that led to a game misconduct. Still, he received a one-game suspension for an unrelated incident involving Calgary’s Matt Coronato. This is due to a league rule which automatically enforces a suspension after a certain number of misconduct penalties within a specified timeframe.
The Islanders have already filled Romanov’s spot with call-up Marshall Warren, and for now, no additional roster changes are anticipated. Adam Boqvist is set to remain on the third pair, continuing to mark Scott Mayfield, while Warren is a healthy scratch.
In another note, Kraken coach Lane Lambert spoke to the New York media, expressing surprise at being waived by the Islanders last January, but didn’t elaborate much further. He remarked that any potential changes regarding the Islanders are now in the past.
