Flyers circle back to Islanders defenseman in trade after two major offseason misses

The Philadelphia Flyers' search for help on the back end keeps leading them to the same name.

According to Marco D'Amico, the Flyers have kicked tires on New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov, a player Philadelphia also pursued last offseason before he ended up re-signing with New York instead.

This renewed push comes after Philadelphia came up empty on two more notable targets in free agency.

The Flyers reportedly offered more money than Tampa Bay did for John Carlson, yet he still chose the Lightning.

Philadelphia also missed out on Darnell Nurse, leaving general manager Danny Briere still searching for answers on defense.

As mentioned during draft weekend, the Islanders had carried out trade discussions with teams about Alexander Romanov.

Those loosely continued but no traction to this point.

With both of those pursuits over and Rasmus Ristolainen unlikely to be back once his deal runs out, the need for a right shot, physical presence on the blue line hasn't gone away heading into camp.

Romanov, 25, has spent his entire NHL career with the Islanders since arriving from Montreal in a 2022 trade.

He's built a reputation as a shutdown, stay at home type who plays a heavy, physical game every night.

New York locked him up on an eight year, $50 million dollar extension last summer, so any move now would mean Philadelphia takes on real term, not just a short term rental.

Across 236 games with the Islanders, Romanov has put up 13 goals, 65 points, and a plus 34 rating.

Nothing suggests a deal is close, and the Islanders haven't given any indication they're ready to move on from a player they just committed to long term.

Still, the Flyers keep calling, and that alone is worth watching.

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