Jack Roslovic Turned Down Offer From Stanley Cup Contender

Jack Roslovic, UFA forward, congratulated after a goal with the Carolina Hurricanes

He's still the top remaining unrestricted free agent on the market. As he has been since the middle of July. But now the time is really ticking for Jack Roslovic, as camps are underway across the NHL. He's been linked to a couple of teams, like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks throughout the summer, but still, here we are, Sept. 19 and no deal.

Pierre LeBrun in The Athletic called the Roslovic dilemma a "strange case", but then outlined how the nine-year veteran apparently turned down a deal with a Stanley Cup contender.

I do believe there was an offer from the Edmonton Oilers at some point, but Roslovic, 28, turned it down.

Adding intrigue to this, is that Roslovic has switched agents since that Oilers deal was rejected, perhaps suggesting some disappointment by the player with how that all went down. His previous respresentation was Claude Lemieux, who orchestrated his one-year, $2.8 million deal last season with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Roslovic ditched agent after turning down deal with Oilers

But after tying a career-high with a 22-goal season, Roslovic expected more. "Word is he’d like to get term on his next deal," writes LeBrun. "More than one year."

Lemieux had landed Roslovic a two-year, $8 million deal ($4M AAV) back in the summer of 2022, after he had posted his other 22-goal season and career-high 45 points with his hometown Columbus Blue Jackets.

Finding a competitive team with the cap space to get him the multi-year deal he's looking for at this stage of the year could be a challenge, but it would be shocking not to see Roslovic find a job before the season gets underway next month.

Roslovic was a first round selection of the Winnipeg Jets in 2015 (25th overall), and spent his first three years in the NHL there, before heading home to Columbus for three and a half seasons. He spent a couple of months with the New York Rangers, then last year with Carolina.

In 526 career games, he has 102 goals and 260 points, in average ice time of 14:12 per night.