Learning curve
Playoff return allows Roslovic to shine
It’s been a while since Jack Roslovic has been in this position. Six years, to be exact, since he played in the second round of the playoffs as a rookie for the Winnipeg Jets — young enough to believe it could be a yearly occurrence.
That Winnipeg side that reached the Western Conference Finals, in retrospect, had a lot of Rangers in its DNA.
Jacob Trouba was there. So were Blake Wheeler and Roslovic and Andrew Copp, a pivotal part of New York’s run to the Eastern Finals two seasons ago. Roslovic made it back to the playoffs for the next two seasons with the Jets, but Winnipeg’s only time making it past the first round came after it dealt him to Columbus in a 2021 deal for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
“My four years in Columbus, we never made it,” Roslovic said Saturday before the Rangers faced Carolina to open the second round. “I always tended to look back on my time in Winnipeg, the times we were able to make it, you do so much learning. So much learning about your team, how a team is ran, about myself.
“It’s the preparation for me, I think I’ve noticed more than anything. It’s fun to be here, it’s a great opportunity, just trying to seize the moment.”
Preparation was a motif of Roslovic’s post-practice session with reporters. Since the postseason started, he’s gotten a little more out of practices, out of days off. And it showed in the first-round sweep against Washington, in which the 27year-old played some of his better hockey since becoming a Ranger in a deadline deal with the Blue Jackets.
“He was excellent in the first round,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “The speed that he’s playing the game, the puck on his stick, the ability to shift and create, especially with the players he’s playing with [Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad] has been very good. It’s been very noticeable in the first round.”
In four games against Washington, Roslovic scored nearly as many goals (two) as he had in 19 regular-season matches with the Blueshirts (three). Scoring, however, was not the only area in which his game elevated. Roslovic was that little bit harder on pucks, winning more battles and displaying more chemistry with Kreider and Zibanejad.
When it was put to him that his game was a bit more noticeable over these last couple of weeks, he did not dispute the idea.
“Maybe just back in playoff action,” Roslovic said. “Brings out a piece of me that maybe I haven’t shown. Maybe something like that.”