Alexander Romanov Injury 2026: Torn ACL Costs Islanders 6-8 Months

Alexander Romanov left Tuesday's game against the Rangers with 12:04 still left on the clock in the third period, and he will not be back for a long time. The Islanders announced Wednesday, Oct. 7 that their regular defenseman tore the ACL in his right knee during Tuesday's 5-2 loss, and he is expected to miss six to eight months after surgery. For a team that is already 1-2-0 to start 2026-27, this is the kind of injury that reshapes a roster for the entire season, not just the next few games.

What happened to Alexander Romanov

Romanov left Tuesday night's game at Madison Square Garden in the third period and did not return, missing the final 12:04 as the Islanders fell 5-2 to the Rangers. The team confirmed the diagnosis the next day. NHL.com reported the Islanders expect him to be out 6-8 months and that he will have surgery to repair the ligament, though no surgery date has been announced. SNY's Colin Martin and CBS Sports/RotoWire both independently confirmed the right-knee ACL tear and the six-to-eight-month window on Oct. 7.

That timeline technically leaves the door open for a return late in the 2026-27 season, but as RotoWire framed it, the realistic best case is Romanov back for only the Islanders' final few games, if that. For all practical betting and roster purposes, he is out for the year.

The numbers before the injury

1. Three games played in 2026-27: zero points and a plus-2 rating, per NHL.com. CBS Sports/RotoWire additionally logged three shots, five hits and seven blocks over those three games. 2. 16:34 of average ice time per game through those three games, per NHL.com. 3. This is Romanov's second long-term injury in less than a year. He had shoulder surgery after a Nov. 19, 2025 injury that cost him most of last season, and he had only just returned from that absence before Tuesday's game. 4. Career-wise, the 2018 second-round pick (38th overall, Montreal) has 84 points in 372 regular-season games between the Canadiens and Islanders. 5. The shoulder injury itself went through its own public timeline, per CBS Sports/RotoWire: a November 2025 report he was likely done for the season, a March 2026 report he could return in time for the playoffs, and an August 2026 report he was good to go for 2026-27. He played three games on that clearance before Tuesday's knee injury.

Who steps in on the Islanders' blue line

No team source has named a direct one-for-one replacement, and nothing here should be read as a confirmed lineup call. CBS Sports/RotoWire reported the absence "gives Scott Mayfield or Matt Kessel a chance to play more often." Coach Peter DeBoer, hired in April 2026 after the Islanders moved on from Patrick Roy (per TSN), now has to find that ice time somewhere else.

Watch Thursday's lineup card against Chicago for the first real signal. If Mayfield or Kessel draws in immediately, that answers the "who plays more" question faster than any depth-chart speculation can.

Betting impact

No sportsbook has publicly tied a specific line move, Stanley Cup number, or division-odds reprice to the Romanov injury as of this writing, and we are not going to invent one. A six-to-eight-month absence for a player getting real third-pairing-plus minutes is the kind of thing that tends to show up first in nightly puck lines and totals for Islanders games rather than in a same-day futures move, so treat any current Islanders futures price as not yet reflecting this specific news.

That said, this is the second time in less than a year a long-term Romanov injury has thinned the Islanders' blue line, and a 1-2-0 start without him is a worse starting position than the team wanted. Anyone tracking Islanders puck-line or team-total value should watch for the first book that actually adjusts off the news, not assume one already has.

What to watch next

The Islanders host the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday, Oct. 8, at UBS Arena, their first game since the diagnosis became public. That lineup card is the first real window into how DeBoer redistributes Romanov's minutes. Beyond that, watch for an actual surgery date (none has been announced yet) and any follow-up from the team on the recovery timeline once Romanov has the procedure done.

For the bigger-picture futures market, see our Stanley Cup odds board for where the Metropolitan Division contenders stand, and check the NHL daily picks page for tonight's full slate against Chicago. StatSniper's Chad AI inside the Chad app is tracking Islanders lines in real time, built to flag exactly the gap between a roster injury like this and a market that hasn't moved yet.

FAQ

What happened to Alexander Romanov? The Islanders defenseman tore the ACL in his right knee during the third period of Tuesday, Oct. 6's 5-2 loss to the Rangers and did not return.

How long will Alexander Romanov be out? The Islanders say he is expected to miss six to eight months and will need surgery, which has not yet been scheduled publicly. That timeline leaves only a small chance he returns for the final games of 2026-27.

Who replaces Romanov on the Islanders' blue line? No official lineup change has been announced. CBS Sports/RotoWire reported the absence could mean more ice time for Scott Mayfield or Matt Kessel, but that is reporting, not a confirmed roster move.

Has a sportsbook moved its line because of the Romanov injury? Not as of this writing. No first-tier source has reported a specific Islanders futures or odds move tied to this injury.

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