Oilers Looking To Re-Sign Roslovic
The Edmonton Oilers have gotten a very strong season from Jack Roslovic that was unfortunately broken up by an injury. He was dominating in the top-6 and playing on the top power play for a time. Now, with the team healthy, he is being tried out as the third line center, a position that is of need to the Oilers.
Roslovic has the fifth-most points among Oilers' forwards and has 12 goals and 20 points in 31 games. He is now centering a line with Isaac Howard and Matthew Savoie and the line looks fast and exciting. Roslovic is signed for just this year at $1.5 million AAV, but an extension is going to cost much more than that. Depending how high, the Oilers should be waiting to see how the rest of the season plays out, including playoffs.
Ryan Rishaug said, "How's (Roslovic) going to do when it gets real in the playoffs? If I were the Oilers, I would not look at signing this player at all until I have that question answered." That is a fair assessment of the situation. Performing in the playoffs in a role that has always hurt the Oilers is key. If Roslovic can't show up for the playoffs, then the Oilers will have their answer and be able to grab someone during the summer who will.
It's not hard to imagine that Roslovic will want at least three years on his next deal at at least 2.5 times more in money per season. It is pushing it for the Oilers to allocate that much money to a third line center even though a couple of their top-6 forwards are making less than the average around the league. There is some money that Edmonton would like to get rid of, but moving on from someone like Darnell Nurse and his large cap hit isn't so easy. Henrique's money will be freed up and there are players in the system and on the team that can fill roles in the NHL for much cheaper, like Savoie, Howard, Quinn Hutson, Cal Clattenburg, Josh Samanski, Curtis Lazar, Max Jones, Viljami Marjala, and Roby Jarventie.
Not all of the 13-14 forwards on the Oilers have to be players with offensive potential. There is plenty of players who can score, but there are many just named that can play roles the right way, willing to work harder for an NHL future, homegrown, and could still produce just as much as the players like Andrew Mangiapane, Adam Henrique, and Mattias Janmark who make more.
The Oilers might end up not risking losing Roslovic, but I would think the Oilers have the upper hand in retaining him due to the season Roslovic is putting together on a contender who has been to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row.
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