One of the big stories surrounding the Montreal Canadiens and the return to play is the status of defenceman Alexander Romanov.
On Tuesday, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a conference call with the media that in his view, late-season pickups should not be eligible for the post-season. “It would be our position, particularly given the advanced date and given the fact it could affect a lot of the players who might now be able to play the balance of the season, it may be unfair to let them play the balance of the season,” he said. “We’ve progressed past the trade deadline. Each team has kind of set its roster. Its roster reflects ‑‑ and everybody will come back healthy, which is a benefit to the teams — its roster really reflects its efforts in the 2019‑20 season. And to add a couple of, for lack of a better term, “ringers” when you’re going into the Playoffs is not the best way for sports to proceed in our view.”
The problem, is that the precedent is opposite to everything Daly said.
Guillaume Lefrancois of La Presse talked to Romanov’s agent, Dan Milstein, who pointed out that in his view there was no issue. Romanov’s situation matches exactly to one of his client’s from last season, Vladislav Gavrikov.
Alexander Romanov’s agent, Dan Milstein:
“It’s our understanding that Alexander should be allowed to play this season if it does resume. His situation is no different than Vladislav Gavrikov’s situation, who joined Columbus during the playoffs last year. “
— Guillaume Lefrançois (@glefrancoisLP) May 28, 2020
As Milstein points out, Gavrikov was in a very similar situation. He was released from his KHL contract, allowing him to sign his entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He did not play any regular-season games, but was eligible for the playoffs because he was on the team’s reserve list, like Romanov was with the Canadiens.
Romanov didn’t need to be released from his KHL contract because the pause meant that his KHL contract expired on its own.
Gavrikov’s entry-level contract was signed on April 13. At that point, the Blue Jackets were already up 2-0 on the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first round series, clearly after the regular season ended. That would mean that even if the NHL opened up the contract signing period when teams start their training camps, the precedent would still allow for Romanov to be eligible.
Nikita Gusev of the Vegas Golden Knights was in the same situation. He was a healthy scratch and didn’t play any games, but was on the active playoff roster. His one-year entry-level contract ran out without him playing an NHL game.
Other players have joined the NHL from the NCAA or CHL for the playoffs after their seasons ended and they signed their entry-level deals.
So why is the situation different? It seems like a simple fact that Romanov would be eligible. The pandemic and the NHL’s season pause are why things are complicated.
The NHL announced it would be pausing its season on March 12. At that point, it told NHL teams that they could sign future contracts, but nothing for the current league year. To date, they have not lifted that restriction — at least not publicly.
Teams, like Montreal, attempted to get around this by signing contracts without start dates. That would give them the flexibility to not break the NHL’s restriction, but to adjust if they returned to play like the league is currently set out to do.
What is next?
The question that the NHL and the NHLPA will need to answer is not whether the players are eligible, it is whether the contracts can be signed for the 2019-20 season. If they can, then the CBA and recent precedent mandates that Romanov would be eligible.
The NHL has made its position clear: They don’t want teams to add players with 2019-20 contracts for the qualification round.
The NHLPA would have to agree to that. There are reasons why the players’ association wouldn’t necessarily want to. It would mean players would not be able to burn a year of their entry-level contracts, and get that much closer to free agency. That’s a major precedent the NHLPA may not want to set in these unprecedented times.
The NHL seems to want to just press the play button as if the pause stopped time itself. In the months that have followed, however, situations have changed.
