After lifting the Blue Jackets to a big road victory last weekend in Minnesota, Jack Roslovic offered an explanation for what had gotten into him.
He sounded like a Chakra.
"There's just been a lot of good team energy, a lot of good vibes, so I think I'm feeding off it and trying to help create more," Roslovic said. "It's been working. It's two games."
That last part, "it's two games," was added so quickly that it was difficult to understand what he'd said. It was the most important part.
More: 5 observations from the Blue Jackets' OT loss to Anaheim Ducks
Roslovic, a slick skating forward from Upper Arlington who came up through the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program , is an enigmatic player for his hometown team. Since being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets as part of a January 2021 trade to land Patrik Laine , Roslovic has ridden a performance roller coaster .
He's alternated between legit top-six NHL forward, capable of changing games with elite speed and high-end skill, and a guy who skates through the motions appearing unhappy and disinterested.
It was the latter to start this season, after Roslovic's name was included in offseason trade speculation related to the Blue Jackets ' overflow of NHL forwards. He started out on the fourth line, skating with center Sean Kuraly and Emil Bemstrom , and was quickly scratched for a game after playing 9:31 in a season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Flyers .
Roslovic returned in a 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings , playing the same role, before the roller coaster began another rapid uphill climb. Roslovic was a big reason the Blue Jackets defeated the Calgary Flames and Wild on back-to-back nights, including a role on the Jackets' second line in Minnesota .
In that game, he tied Boone Jenner in shots with a career-high eight and won it in OT with a wrist shot that beat goalie Filip Gustavsson for Roslovic's first goal of the season. Going into a game Thursday in Montreal, he has three points in five games (one goal, two assists), and it appears that he's back to being the player Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent remembers coaching in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose.
"He was just a dominant player, and that's the pace he had ... him and (Winnipeg Jets forward) Kyle Conner. Back then, they were playing together and that's how he played. I used him on the power play, on the (penalty kill), against top lines … so I've seen it before. I'm not surprised. He can do it."
The biggest unanswered question about Roslovic, a pending unrestricted free agent, is whether he'll do it with any consistency for the Blue Jackets?
He's shown impressive flashes the past three years in Columbus, but not with consistency and not during critical parts of a season. Vincent has Roslovic in a first-line role against the Canadiens, in the coach's return to his hometown of Montreal, so there's even more opportunity ahead.
"We're just a better team when he plays that way," Vincent said. "His ability to skate and separate himself from the coverage is way better than average in the NHL, so I'm really pleased with him. And you know what? He responded well. He had a chance to play up with another line and get more ice time, and he took advantage of it. So, good for him and good for us."
Vincent is from Montreal, so he'll have his parents, siblings and others at Bell Centre on Thursday night to watch him coach against the Montreal Canadiens. That part will be special. Coaching against the Canadiens is a different story.
"I would say going back to Winnipeg is still more intense for me," Vincent said. "I had a real attachment to the (Jets) organization. I spent 10 years there. My daughter is 12 and she lived 11 years there, the first 11 years of her life. I'd say Winnipeg is very special to me, as far as me and the community. Montreal is my hometown. It's always going to be special, the Montreal Canadiens and the history, but it's just a hockey game for me."
The Blue Jackets could gain a lot of size, strength and snarl in Montreal.
Going into the game, it appears that rookie Dmitri Voronkov , a 6-foot-5, 240-pound power forward, will make his NHL debut. Kent Johnson , a 6-0, 178-pound playmaker, is expected to come out of the lineup as a healthy scratch.
Voronkov was recalled from the AHL's Cleveland Monsters on Monday after contributing one assist in four games. The Blue Jackets only had three picks in the 2019 draft and used one of two in the fourth round to select Voronkov. He's still adjusting to better competition and smaller North American rinks, but Voronkov's NHL potential is intriguing.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets hopeful enigmatic Roslovic can find consistency
