Canucks In The Middle
The Canucks would love to add a center. Jack Roslovic’s name has come up often, as it has with a number of clubs, because he’s sitting there on the available unrestricted free agent (UFA) list.
Are the Canucks waiting to pull off a “Kevin Lankinen Part II”.
In a savvy manoeuvre late last September, Vancouver nabbed goalie Lankinen off the free agent list at a discount. Although the club didn’t make the postseason, he saved their bacon in the absence of Thatcher Demko due to injury, and almost backstopped them to a playoff spot.
It paid off for the Finnish netminder. He went from playing one year in Vancouver for the NHL minimum to signing a five-year deal worth $4.5-million per.
But there may be a good reason Roslovic, a projected 2nd-line pivot, is still sitting around. He appeared to be a shrinking violet in the postseason. We’ve scoured the injury reports for anything on him last spring, but can’t come up with a malady. He became a non-factor for the Carolina Hurricanes, especially in the five-game, round-3 loss to the nasty, eventual repeat-champion Florida Panthers.
Roslovic played two games in the series, a minus-2 twice, with no impact statistics discernible. His ice time was extremely limited. Apparently not a (head coach) Rod Brind’Amour type of player.
Wherever Roslovic ends up, it won’t be for the $2.8-million he made this past season, his only one in Raleigh after signing there last summer. Four months before he inked with the Hurricanes, his hometown Columbus Blue Jackets shipped him to the New York Rangers at the trade deadline for a 4th-round pick.
Tough to coach, doesn’t follow the program? Would the Canucks snag him for $1-million just to add to the competition? Probably. But what does over-rated-with-diminishing-returns do to your team identity and dressing room chemistry. He’s 28; he should be in his prime.
Are we being too hard on him? I guess that’s up to Roslovic and his agent Claude Lemieux.
Earlier Canucks:
— A Safe Hughes Is A Trophy Winner
