Alexander Romanov Tears ACL and the Islanders Must Rebuild Their Left Side

New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov tore the ACL in his right knee and will need surgery, the team announced Wednesday. He is expected to miss six to eight months, a timeline that likely ends his regular season and leaves his availability for any playoff run in doubt.

Romanov was hurt in the third period of Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Rangers after an awkward collision with Mika Zibanejad, and he did not play the final 12:04. It is a brutal second blow for the 26-year-old, who played just 15 games last season after shoulder surgery in November 2025. He had been plus-2 with no points through three games this season, averaging 16:34 of ice time.

The Islanders (1-2-0) host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, and coach Peter DeBoer now has to rebuild his left side on short notice.

What the timeline actually means

Six to eight months from early October lands somewhere between early April and early June. The regular season ends in mid-April, so even the best case gives Romanov a handful of games at most. NHL.com framed it as likely the rest of the season, and that is the right working assumption for fantasy and for the standings.

The contract adds another layer. Romanov is signed to a reported eight-year, $50 million extension from general manager Mathieu Darche. With two major surgeries in roughly 11 months, the long-term question for New York is whether he can return to the physical, shot-blocking style that earned that deal.

In the short term, the cap mechanics matter less than the bodies. The Islanders opened the season carrying eight defensemen on their 23-man roster, which means they can replace Romanov internally without an immediate call-up.

Who absorbs Romanov's minutes

The Islanders' defense corps entering the season was Matthew Schaefer, Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Tony DeAngelo, Logan Stanley, Scott Mayfield, Matt Kessel and Romanov. Mayfield and Kessel were healthy scratches through the first three games, and the team's own game preview said one of them should factor into the pairings Thursday, with updated lines expected after the morning skate.

The handedness problem is the core issue. Romanov was a left shot, and both Mayfield and Kessel shoot right. One option discussed in local coverage is shifting Schaefer to the left side next to Pulock, which keeps the most dangerous defenseman on the roster on the ice with a steady partner. Another is giving Stanley and DeAngelo heavier usage as a pair. Neither has been confirmed by the team, so treat Thursday's morning skate as the first real data point.

Mayfield is the most likely beneficiary in terms of raw minutes. He is a physical, defense-first right shot, which makes him a natural fit to inherit some of Romanov's defensive-zone work, even if he is not a like-for-like replacement on the left side.

Fantasy fallout

Alexander Romanov: Drop him in all redraft formats. His value was built on hits and blocked shots, not points, and those categories are easy to replace off waivers. Dynasty managers with deep IR slots can stash, but the return is a 2027-28 story.

Matthew Schaefer: Romanov's absence does not change Schaefer's power play role, but it could push his even-strength minutes even higher. He was already a must-start, and more ice time only adds to his shot and blocked-shot totals.

Scott Mayfield: He becomes interesting only in deep leagues that count hits and blocks. If he draws into the lineup and takes on defensive-zone shifts, he can produce peripheral stats, but he offers little in points-only formats.

Tony DeAngelo and Logan Stanley: Both are worth monitoring. DeAngelo has the most offensive upside of the group, and a bump in even-strength minutes adds to that. Stanley is a banger whose value, like Mayfield's, depends on category scoring.

What it means for the Islanders' goalies

The less obvious impact is in net. Losing a top-four, shot-blocking defenseman tends to show up as more quality chances against, and that is a concern for an Islanders team that just lost 5-2 to the Rangers on Tuesday.

Ilya Sorokin remains the No. 1. He posted a 6-0 shutout over New Jersey earlier this season, and his talent gives him a high floor in any defensive structure. Semyon Varlamov made his first regular-season start since Nov. 29, 2024 against the Rangers and stopped 19 shots in the loss. Some projections listed Varlamov as Thursday's starter, but that had not been confirmed by the team as of Thursday morning.

For fantasy managers, Sorokin stays in the lineup every week. The concern is marginal, not structural: a slightly weaker blue line could nudge his goals-against average and save percentage. Varlamov is not a streaming target until the Islanders show how they will split the workload.

The betting angle

The Islanders now play a stretch at home before their next road game in Ottawa on Oct. 15, which gives DeBoer time to test pairings in friendlier conditions. Thursday's opponent, Chicago, is also short-handed with Connor Bedard still on the injured non-roster list and Teuvo Teravainen out after getting hurt Tuesday.

That matchup of two depleted rosters is the angle. Chicago's offense is concentrated around Patrick Kane, Frank Nazar and Anton Frondell, so the Islanders' revised pairings will be tested by a narrow group rather than four scoring lines. Verdexed's game-by-game call for Thursday is on the NHL predictions page (/nhl/predictions).

For player props, defensemen who inherit Romanov's minutes, especially Schaefer, are worth checking for shot-on-goal lines that have not been adjusted for the extra ice time.

What's next

Romanov will undergo surgery and begin a recovery that likely runs through the end of the regular season. For the Islanders, the first answers come at Thursday's morning skate, when DeBoer's new pairings become public. Watch whether Schaefer moves to the left side next to Pulock and who between Mayfield and Kessel draws in. That decision tells fantasy managers where the extra minutes, and the extra peripheral stats, are going for the next six months.