Romanov's mistakes are caused by a big gap
Other than Jake Allen (despite his latest outing), Jonathan Drouin, Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson, not many players are currently making an impact for the Montreal Canadiens. Whether it's the veterans or the youngsters, the entire unit has been struggling a ton since the start of this schedule.
Everything has fallen apart in such a short period of time. This team is currently playing without soul and conviction, so they have a duty to come back quickly so that the youth can continue their line of progression. Let's face it, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Alexander Romanov are having a tough time.
In the case of the last one, the one who could play the role of big brother, Joel Edmundson, is away from the team in order to make sure it is in good shape. Since the beginning of the season, Romanov is still looking for his identity, as Guillaume Latendresse kindly pointed out. He lacks coaching!
"He doesn't know what to do. Romanov, right now, he doesn't know if he's physical, if he's offensive... He can't jump around too much in the game. He can't miss his pass, he can't get caught... Defensively, he doesn't know who to pick," said Latendresse.
There is also talk of a deficient game reading in his case:
"Romanov, you put him on the ice, expect him to make mistakes. He might pick the wrong guy in defensive coverage. That's what Romanov is: he doesn't have a good read on the game, defensively. But give offensively. Be creative," added Latendresse.
As much as we all love Romanov, his smile and his good humor, we have to admit that "Tender" is right on target when describing the Romanov we're watching right now. Someone will have to sit down with him to guide him and teach him some of the basics, won't they?
