2024 Report Card: Jack Roslovic

Expectations:

Chris Drury and the New York Rangers put a bow on their 2024 Trade Deadline by acquiring Jack Roslovic from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a conditional 4th round pick in 2026. The conditions of that trade being if the Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup Final, the pick would upgrade to a third rounder. If you’re anything like me and find everything about trades, roster configuration and other GM duties fascinating, I highly recommend checking out this video. It offers an in-depth behind the scenes look at the Columbus Blue Jackets’ trade deadline in which you can see how negotiations between Drury and his former boss John Davidson went.

Turns out, Drury was very wise to talk the Jackets down in the conditions seeing as if it went Columbus’ way, it would have become a third round pick since they originally labeled the condition as making it to the Conference Final. 

Nevertheless, Roslovic wasn’t a high ticket item that tremendously changed the trajectory of how this Rangers team looked to head into the playoffs. However, it did make them a deeper and all around better team. The expectation wasn’t that Roslovic was going to come in and become that glass slipper right-wing-one solution, but you have to imagine the front office was at least optimistic that he would be an option there. While the former first round draft pick hasn’t exactly become an elite player in this league, he excels at moving the puck well with great speed. His offensive skills and abilities to beat a defender one-on-one are some of his best qualities that made him an enticing option on the Zibanejad/Kreider line. 

Performance:

19 GP 3 Goals 5 Assists

Roslovic didn’t immediately click with this Rangers team but after three games of getting acclimated, he came out of a 6-3 loss to Tampa with a goal and an assist. The assist showcased the potential within this player as he looked incredibly confident with the puck and outworked the defender to get the puck over to Zibanejad and eventually Braden Schneider for the goal. 

His two point outing kicked off a four game stretch where he would tally up four points before slowing back down to wrap up the month of March where he finished close to pointless otherwise. That similar theme of slight inconsistency continued through April as he opened the month with a goal and an assist in the first two games then didn’t have much to show for until he found the back of the net again in the final game of the regular season. 

The playoffs however, were looking to become a completely different story. Through the first round sweep against the Washington Capitals, Roslovic helped the Rangers with a total of two goals and two assists spread across all four games making him a point-per-game player. His first goal came as an absolute snipe on the power play that beat Charlie Lindgren up high so fast you would have missed it if you blinked. 

He continued to have an impact through Game 1 of the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes where he picked up an assist on Mika Zibanejad’s first goal of the game. However from there, he again began to quiet back down. Pointless in the next four games of the series, Roslovic stepped up in Game 6 with a pair of assists on two of Chris Kreider’s three goals that helped carry his team out of the hole they found themselves in, on the brink of being forced to a seventh game. 

As the postseason went on, Roslovic’s ice time began to decrease as he took on less of a significant role. His lone point in the Conference Finals came as the secondary assist on Wennberg’s huge overtime game-winning goal but as I mentioned in that report card, that was pretty much the end of the Rangers run right there. Roslovic saw a postseason low of just over nine minutes of ice time in what became the series clinching game for Florida which would also become his last as a New York Ranger.  

It’s easy to look at the Rangers trade deadline acquisitions and label them as shortcomings or failures. However, it bears repeating that while Alex Wennberg and Jack Roslovic didn’t necessarily act as major difference makers down the stretch, it wasn’t their jobs to do so. This all comes back to the Rangers star players failing to be star players when it was all on the line. Could Roslovic have helped out more down the stretch? Sure. However, two goals and six assists across three rounds of the playoffs for a fourth round pick? That’s not bad business by any means. 

Author Grade: C+

Banter Consensus: C+

Final Evaluation:

All things considered, the Rangers got their money’s worth in this trade. While he, just like Wennberg was far from the perfect trade deadline acquisition, he came in and helped the team more than most of their internal options likely would have. I still believe that the Rangers should have been more aggressive in attempts to land a Jake Guentzel or another big name right winger for that top line; However, Roslovic was a fine addition to what was already a strong Rangers team. He now joins the ever growing list of former Rangers-turned Hurricanes as he will look to take on a bigger role under Rod Brind’Amour.