Notable free agent believed to have declined offer from Oilers

One of the biggest surprises this summer is that forward Jack Roslovic remains a free agent.  Coming off matching his career high in goals last season with 22, the belief was that he’d land a multiyear deal with a raise from the $2.9M he received last season; we had him ranked 20th in our annual Top 50 UFA list.  Instead, as the preseason gets underway, he’s still on the sidelines.

Jack Roslovic remains a free agent

That isn’t to say that he hasn’t had offers, however.  In his latest column for The Athletic, Pierre LeBrun reports that the Edmonton Oilers are believed to have made a pitch at some point during the summer, one that was declined.  Considering that they’re very tight to the upper limit of the salary cap, it stands to reason that the proposal may have come very early in free agency before their roster was filled out.  Otherwise, the offer would have needed to be relatively close to the minimum salary for them to stay cap-compliant.

As much as Roslovic has bounced around recently (he has played for three different teams in the last year-and-a-half), he has been able to provide some decent consistent secondary scoring.  He had 39 points last season, extending his streak to five straight years of recording more than 30 points.  Between that and his ability to play down the middle when needed, Roslovic seemed to be in better shape than he was last summer when he ultimately accepted a one-year deal from Carolina.

LeBrun notes that Roslovic’s desire remains to secure a multiyear contract and he has changed to being represented by ASM’s Justin Duberman. (he was previously repped by 4Sports’ Claude Lemieux.)  Whether that will be enough to get the term and money he’s seeking remains to be seen but with most rosters set heading into the season, it won’t be easy.