Rumor: Habs may have robbed the Islanders on the Romanov trade.

The 2022 National Hockey League Entry Draft was an incredible event and it was made so thanks in large part to the host city of Montreal, and the hometown team the Montreal Canadiens.

The Canadiens had a huge day that included making a number of trades as well as pulling off a huge surprise by selecting Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovsky first overall. As it turns out though, it may have been an even bigger day for the Canadiens than originally thought.

One of those aforementioned trades involved sending 22 year old defenseman Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders, a costly deal on the part of general manager Kent Hughes given Romanov's status as one of the Canadiens' most promising young defensemen. In return for Romanov, and the Canadiens' 4th round pick, the Canadiens received the 13th overall selection in the draft and while there may be plenty of debate over who won this trade, a new development could turn this into highway robbery on the part of the Canadiens.

TSN 690 contributor Andrew Zadarnowski is now reporting that CSKA Moscow has extended a 2 year contract offer to Romanov, an offer worth 60 million rubles per season, which works out to $982,000 a year. While the Islanders could very likely outbid the Russian Army team, the current political climate in Russia could end up making any offers they put forward irrelevant.

Zadarnowski warns that this could merely be a negotiating ploy on the part of Romanov, who is a restricted free agent, in an effort to drive up the value of his next contract in the National Hockey League.

That likely would be the best case scenario for both Romanov and the Islanders, but the fact that this offer is coming from CSKA Moscow does raise some alarms for those who have been following recent developments. Recently, Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov was detained by Russian authorities and it does not appear that he will be playing for the Flyers next season in spite of signing a contract with that organization in May.

Some, like former Russian hockey reporter Slava Malamud, have suggested that CSKA owner Igor Sechin is the man who orchestrated Fedotov's detainment in Russia. Fedotov was the goaltender for CSKA Moscow during the 2021 - 2022 Kontinental Hockey League season.