Has Jack Roslovic done enough to stick with the Oilers?

When Roslovic signed his one-year, $1.5-million contract, it came with a curious full no-movement clause. While the clause itself wasn’t curious given the Oilers’ willingness to hand them out in recent years, the fine print of it is what caught my eye. On November 1st, Roslovic will submit a four-team trade list to the Oilers.

It was easy to take it as a sign that the deal was effectively a one-month tryout with the team. If things worked out, great — the Oilers have a useful top-nine winger who has put up points in the past. If not, then the Oilers have a way to clear up a roster spot, and Roslovic still gets to play in the NHL, so long as one of those four teams is interested in acquiring him.

Sunday’s performance was a good sign that things are starting to click, and through eight games with the Oilers, it’s hard to find a reason the Oilers shouldn’t keep him around.

It’s an extremely small sample size, of course, but the Oilers have been dominant with him on the ice. In 117 five-on-five minutes, the Oilers have outscored the opposition 5-2 with him on the ice, controlling 54.1 percent of the shot attempt share and 53.5 percent of the expected goal share. Those on-ice metrics are impressive, considering he, much like other Oilers, has bounced between lines for much of the season.

But one forward he’s especially had success with is Draisaitl. Of Roslovic’s 117 minutes, 35 have been with Draisaitl, with them outscoring the opposition 4-0, controlling 55.3 percent of the shot attempt share, 52.5 percent of the expected goal share, and 57.1 percent of the scoring chance share.

Roslovic hasn’t shown well just from a underlying perspective, but an individual one, too. He’s taking 8.7 shots on goal per hour, 2.2 more than his career average, and generating 0.9 individual expected goals per hour, .3 more than his career average. His shot attempt, scoring chance and high-danger scoring chance per hour rates are all above his. career average, too. The sample size, of course, is small, but those are promising numbers considering he’s largely been in a bottom-six role.

These numbers will change as the sample size continues to grow, but all of the early signs make one thing clear: Jumpin’ Jack Flash is here to stay.