This summer the Flyers have been tied to a number of different defensemen. The two topping the list were John Carlson and Darnell Nurse, both of which Philadelphia general manager Danny Briere was hoping to land in free agency. As well all know Carlson signed with Tampa Bay, while Nurse ended up with the Sharks. So Briere came up empty-handed. Also, the situation with Rasmus Ristolainen — in the final year of his contract and with no plans for Briere to re-sign him — has meant Philadelphia possibly looking outside their pipeline to fill a need for a big, rugged defenseman. And a name has resurfaced yet again in New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov.

According to reporter Marco D’Amico on the Tuesday edition of the The Starr & D’Amico podcast, Philadelphia apparently has some interest in the 26-year-old.

“Philadelphia I could see 100%,” D’Amico said when they were discussing potential landing spots for Arber Xhekaj. “This is a team that likes that style. Of course, they’ve been looking for a defenseman all summer. They were in on Carlson. They were very interested in Darnell Nurse. And I’ve been told that they’ve kicked tires on Alexander Romanov — they’re looking for evidently that kind of player, right?”

Romanov, 26, was a second-round draft pick of the Canadiens in 2018. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound left-shooting defenseman is an imposing presence on the back end. He doesn’t have much if any offensive upside, but would seem to fill the role a guy like Ristolainen has prided himself on since Philadelphia essentially refurbished him into a reliable, stay-at-home defenseman.

Romanov played 54 games in his 2020-21 rookie year for Montreal, scoring once with five helpers. His sophomore season was much the same, playing 79 games with three goals and 10 assists. However, Montreal dealt Romanov and a fourth-round pick in 2022 to New York in exchange for the Islanders’ first-round pick (thirteenth overall). Romanov was a steadying presence for the Islanders, missing just 18 games from 2022-23 through 2024-25. He also marginally saw his offensive production rise, scoring seven goals in a 22-point in 2023-24, tying his point total in his first year with New York the previous season.

Satisfied with the job he was doing, New York inked Romanov to an eight-year, $50 million deal last summer ($6.25 million average annual value). Unfortunately, Romanov’s 2025-26 season suffered a devastating blow when he was hit by Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen late in regulation in a Nov. 18 game. The questionable hit from behind ended Romanov’s season, while Rantanen was tossed out of the game for boarding. Romanov never returned in 2025-26, missing the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on Nov. 23 to repair the injured shoulder. At the time of the injury, Romanov had averaged over 20 minutes in each of his previous five games. He finished the year with one assist in 15 contests.

In April, the Islanders hinted that Romanov might be able to play in the final two games of the regular season. But with Philadelphia clinching the last playoff spot against Carolina, New York decided to be cautious, not putting a defenseman who hadn’t played in roughly six months in harms way. Prior to the injury, Romanov was playing mostly with Tony DeAngelo, although he did have brief stints with other defenseman including Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer.

What Romanov would bring to the Flyers

Clearly, with the Flyers having zeroed in on Nurse as much as reported, the team is looking for a bigger, tougher, imposing defender to add to their lineup. And they were also reportedly in on Romanov last year alongside Boston who were inquiring about the blueliner. Romanov, if healthy, would provide that for the most part. It’s not that he’s a bruiser who racks up penalty minutes (163 penalty minutes in 369 regular season games) or is known to drop the gloves at will. But he can use his size to knock players off the puck, if not knock them on their backsides.

As well, Romanov isn’t that much of a defensive liability. In 2024-25, his goals for percentage (49.04) was third among all Islanders defenseman 5-on-5 (minimum 900 minutes), only behind Scott Mayfield and Noah Dobson (who he was paired with a good portion of 2024-25). And his expected goals for (49.21) was also third on the back end using the same criteria, behind Dobson and Adam Pelech.

What might be most enticing to Briere is that Romanov is locked up for quite a while now, and with the identical cap hit Travis Sanheim currently owns. His age is also a plus, as at 26 years old the Flyers could see Romanov’s best years ahead of him in a top four pairing. So the security of having a dependable, big defenseman at a rather economical cap hit, especially with a blossoming cap ceiling for the foreseeable future, might be a practical option for Philadelphia. Another tidbit to consider besides the cap hit is that Romanov’s contract sees him with a no trade clause beginning in 2027-28 that runs through the end of the 2029-30 season. After that it’s a modified no trade clause until the end of the contract, with Romanov having a 16-team list. So if a move for Romanov is going to get done by anyone, it has to pretty much be done before the beginning of next season.

The drawbacks of Romanov

Obviously, first and foremost would be his health given the injury, surgery, and recover process. A recent Russian interview with Romanov had him stating he was essentially good to go and training “at full capacity,” not hampered at all by the injury or training for the season. So, according to him, he’s fine. But, as is the case with Tyson Foerster, once a player suffers a season-ending (or near season-ending in Foerster’s case) injury, there will always be a tinge of doubt about whether the shoulder will hold up over an 84-game schedule. However, on the other hand, despite the two being totally different players, perhaps the Flyers see how Foerster rebounded from the surgery and believe Romanov is equally capable of returning to his strong play.

And as we know from Briere’s tenure with Philadelphia, he’s not averse to taking a chance on a guy who is coming off a lackluster season. One only has to look at David Jiricek to see Briere is quite comfortable rolling the dice on players he thinks still have an upside.

What would the cost be

The fact he’s a left-handed shot, and the fact that he’s averaged between 19 to 22 minutes in the last four seasons prior to 2025-26, Romanov needs to be a top four guy. So that would certainly narrow who Romanov might be replacing. It’s doubtful Romanov would be paid what he is (at least for the next few seasons) to simply play 10 to 12 minutes a night on the third pairing, making a guy like Nick Seeler redundant. Nor would he be eating up the 26 to 28 minutes a night on occasion a guy like Sanheim effectively does all season. There’s always the option of playing Romanov on the other side of a pairing, but for now we’ll keep him where he’s most comfortable.

That means the most likely spot Romanov would be fitting into would be Cam York’s. The idea of seeing York dealt — especially after scoring the overtime-winner against Pittsburgh in last year’s first round — might be surprising. However, York has absolutely no trade or movement protection in his deal. And at just $5.15 million AAV for the next four seasons, would that be type of defender that piques the interest of the Islanders and their general manager Mathieu Darche?

Of course, that doesn’t mean York would be shipped off for Romanov one-for one. York might be part of another deal that could help the Flyers down the middle, or in some other way. Then again he might play out his entire contract with Philadelphia. Or does New York see a prospect like Hunter McDonald (the last remaining Flyer who needs a new contract before the season starts) as a guy (or part of a package) they could look at? Either way, considering how the Flyers were linked this summer to bigger defensemen like Nurse and — to a lesser extent — Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj, perhaps Philadelphia is looking to make a deal for Romanov in the event Ristolainen is soon shown the door.

Regardless, it’s something to keep tabs on with the season less than seven weeks from starting.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com, Puckpedia.com, and NaturalStatTrick.com.