The Montreal Canadiens confirmed Sunday that defenceman Alexander Romanov will join the team in Phase 3. The move allows him to burn the first year of his entry-level contract.

Romanov, who spent this season in the KHL, is not eligible to play for the Canadiens when games resume in August.  The team said the 20-year-old will first need to serve a 14-day quarantine period after arriving from Russia before he can be join his teammates.

The Canadiens agreed to terms with Romanov on a three-year, entry-level contract in May, announcing at the time that the start date of the contract had yet to be determined.

Romanov had seven assists and was plus-21 in 43 games with CSKA Moscow in the KHL this past season.

He was taken 38th overall by the Canadiens at the 2018 NHL Draft.

Phase 3 of the NHL's Return to Play - training camps - begins Monday. Montreal will open their best-of-five play-in series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug. 1 in Toronto.

Under the newly ratified collective bargaining agreement, players who played this season in the KHL will not be permitted to take part in the Return to Play tournament, but can sign contracts to burn the 2019-2020 season off of their contracts. Doing so, allows players to reach restricted free agency one year earlier, after the 2020-21 season, but receive no compensation for 2019-20.

That decision came after NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in May that it wasn’t in the league’s best interest to have ‘ringers’ join teams for the most important games of the season