His intelligence, a trait that's quick to come up any time you're discussing Romanov's skill set, is impossible to ignore.
It's what drives his ability to quickly adapt to any given situation while maintaining an aggressive disposition on the ice, something he does without forfeiting his crucial defensive responsibilities.
It's also what helped him perform at such a high level throughout both his World Junior Championship appearances.
Statistically speaking, Romanov's performance was the epitome of dominance when he was playing against players of a similar age group.
Consider this: with 14 points in 14 World Juniors games, Romanov ranks 21st all-time among defensemen in scoring in the tournament. He is second all-time among Russian blue-liners, trailing none other than Hall-of-Famer Viacheslav Fetisov, who earned 15 points in 14 games.
His elite performance earned him a place on both WJC All-Star teams, as well as Best Defenseman honors in 2019.
But there are always going to be question marks surrounding prospects, even those who defy the odds as they prepare to make their way to the best hockey league on earth.
Accolades are great, but are rarely mentioned beyond sports trivia if the player in question does not make it to the NHL.
Which leads us to the ultimate question: can Romanov's skill set translate to the NHL?
"I think he's going to be a really strong, solid Top 4 defenseman that can play a lot of minutes," said Button. "And we can talk about offense in different ways. Where Alexander is going to be really good is that he's going to be able to get the puck from the defensive zone, with control, moving forward out of it. And because he's so smart, he'll keep pucks alive in the offensive zone, which will create more offensive opportunities."