Is Jack Roslovic Doomed? If Free Agency Fails Again, A Surprise Awaits with Oilers

A year ago, Jack Roslovic bet on himself and lost. His story from last offseason is about a player trying to change his reputation on a team with two of the world’s best players, hoping that increased production would land him better offers. The question this summer is whether anything has changed enough to make that bet pay off the second time around.

The Edmonton Oilers made Roslovic an offer on July 1. He turned it down, expecting the open market to do better. It didn’t. An entire summer rolled by, and somewhere in the process, he parted ways with his agent. By opening night, he was back in Edmonton anyway, signed to a one-year, team-friendly deal that paid him far less than what the Oilers had originally put on the table.

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It was a tough lesson in how quickly leverage can evaporate.

So what did Roslovic do with his second chance? He produced… up to a point.

21 goals during the 2025-26 regular season is a legitimate number for a versatile top-nine forward who can play both wing and center. He gave the Oilers exactly what they needed from him in the regular season, and for a while, it looked like he might head into this summer with his value fully restored.

The playoffs, though, were more of the same for Roslovic. Against the Anaheim Ducks, he was quiet. No goals and one assist in six games showed that he was not going to change the narrative around him. That’s when Edmonton needed him the most — and this came on the heels of being scratched by the Carolina Hurricanes in the prior postseason. Two straight underwhelming Aprils and Mays is even worse than just one. It’s no longer a one-off; it’s a pattern.

There will be teams this summer with cap space, middle-six needs, and an appreciation for a 29-year-old who can play up and down a lineup and chip in 20 goals. The question is whether they show up for Roslovic with an offer that he wants, or they spurn him yet again.

Can Jack Roslovic Survive on a Babcock-Led Oilers?

What if the market shuns him again? A return to Edmonton seems complicated. The Oilers are expected to bring in Mike Babcock behind the bench, and Babcock has historically preferred to take a harder approach. In fact, that’s why the Oilers leadership group is pitching him to take a role behind the bench. They want to be pushed. Coasters are no longer welcome.

That’s not necessarily good news for Roslovic. A player who seems unwilling to take the next step to ramp up his play when games get tougher, there will be no playing on cruise control. If he’s going to shy away come playoff time, he won’t play. As such, it makes sense that the team’s current interest in bringing him back appears to have cooled. The door isn’t necessarily closed, but it’s not wide open either. There’s a reason the Hurricanes sat him. The Oilers now know what he is, and more importantly, what he isn’t.

Roslovic will always have that ability to score. He’s fast and skilled, and he’s proven he can produce at the NHL level when given a settled role. That’s not nothing. What works against him is the playoff track record and the fact that he’ll be negotiating without the leverage he hoped to have twelve months ago. He didn’t do much more in 2025-26 than he did in 2024-25. Teams will see that, and their opinions of him won’t change.

Last summer, Roslovic waited for a market that never materialized. This summer, he’ll find out whether a 21-goal season with two of the league’s best is enough. He’d better hope it is because if it’s not, and he turns around and comes back to the Oilers for another lower-term deal, he’s got Babcock waiting.

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