Alexander Romanov was not traded for the reasons many believe

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Jeff Drouin
July 8, 2022 (11:36)

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While there was a surprising highlight of the night when Juraj Slafkovsky was selected with the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the biggest story of the night came a little later when Alexander Romanov was traded to the Montreal Canadiens.

To the Islanders:

Alexander Romanov (LD)
98th overall pick

vs.

Montreal:

13th overall pick

--------------

In Montreal:

Kirby Dach (C)

vs.

Chicago:

13th overall pick
66th overall

A three-team deal that really took fans by surprise.

Yesterday, after this very eventful night, Habs general manager Kent Hughes answered reporters' questions at a press conference, and he quickly denied a rumor that was circulating on the web:

"The Russian aspect did not play into the decision to trade Romanov. It's really the fact that there's a lot of relief coming in from the left side that convinced the Habs," Hughes said." - Marc Antoine Godin

So it had no impact on the decision whatsoever, contrary to what some were saying. And he continues:

"It was very difficult to get rid of Alexander Romanov. We'd been talking to the Hawks about Kirby Dach for 2-3 weeks. We couldn't make the trade with just picks." - Kent Hughes, via Nicolas Cloutier

The Tricolore GM also insisted in an interview. He didn't want to trade Alexander Romanov, but the New York Islanders absolutely wanted him for their pick. Hughes is sad to have traded him, but in order to get his hands on Kirby Dach, he had no choice. (the Hawks wanted a top-15 pick for Dach, and to get their hands on a top-15 pick, it cost Romanov)

In the end, are you happy with this big deal?