Roslovic looking forward to his chance with Blue Jackets

For years, friends and acquaintances said, every once in a while Jack Roslovic would let his guard down and say it.
Wouldn't it be great to play for the Blue Jackets?
It wasn't that the Columbus kid was taking for granted the fact that he was an NHL player, spending his first three seasons with Winnipeg, the team that took him in the first round of the 2015 draft.

It was just a thought that, for someone who loves the city of Columbus, who grew up going sitting right behind the visiting bench at Blue Jackets games, who wore the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets sweater and who spent his summers working out with Blue Jackets players, the chance to put on the union blue would be a dream come true.
And the dream finally came true Saturday as the 23-year-old forward was acquired by the Blue Jackets along with All-Star winger Patrik Laine in the trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Jets. If the smile on Roslovic's face as he chatted with his new teammates on the ice during Monday's practice was a sign, he's ready to get started.
"I think for Jack, it's something everybody has dreamed of," said Ed Gingher, the longtime president of the AAA Blue Jackets program who has known Roslovic since the player was 10 years old. "You don't really want to talk about it too much because if you talk about it too much, it may not happen. You don't want to get your hopes up. It's something I think he's tried to manage, but if it's just the two of us chatting, it's hard not to dream about that stuff."
MORE ON THE TRADE: Laine excited to join team | Jackets fill a scoring need | Another big move from Jarmo
The move has been the talk of the Columbus hockey community for the past few days, and Roslovic said Saturday that he's heard from plenty of people he grew up with since the trade went down. And now that he's gone from watching from behind the visiting bench as a kid to sitting on the home side, Roslovic will get to represent a city he's talked up everywhere he's been.
"Of course I'm going to be a little bit biased, but I grew up here," Roslovic said. "I've spent pretty much my whole life here, and I have nothing bad to say about this city. I tell everyone it's definitely underrated. This city has developed so much from when I first was born and what I first remember from it.
"I've had season tickets since they started in 2000 and I've watched the team grow and I've watched the city grow. I think it's not even close to its potential and I'm just super excited to be a part of it."
While Roslovic has talked often about the potential of eventually wearing the CBJ sweater, the affinity apparently was mutual. Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said he's long wanted to acquire Roslovic, just barely missing out in the 2015 draft when Winnipeg chose him 25th overall; the Blue Jackets had acquired the 29th pick that year and ended up with defenseman Gabriel Carlsson.
"I think Jack Roslovic is going to be a huge part of this whole trade," Kekalainen said. "He's a guy that we wanted to draft, couldn't get it done. Obviously there's other teams that have their turn, too, and we couldn't get to him. Every time we've had any trade talks with Winnipeg, I've asked about Jack Roslovic. He's a hometown boy. We think he can play center in the NHL and he has tremendous speed and skill and hockey sense."
So far, Roslovic has been looking for an opportunity to shine, and it appears he'll get that chance in Columbus. The Blue Jackets said they view him as a pivot despite the fact Roslovic largely played wing to this point with the Jets. In addition, he could get the chance to play higher in the lineup in Columbus, as the high-level forward depth in Winnipeg limited Roslovic to bottom-six roles.
He'll have to earn that opportunity, but the hope is at age 23 he's ready for a breakout. To this point, Roslovic has a 26-41-67 line in 180 career games over three-plus seasons since he made his NHL debut in Columbus in 2016-17, including career highs of 12 goals and 29 points a year ago.
"I'm super motivated," said Roslovic, who inked a new two-year deal with Columbus at the time of the trade. "That's what I've always wanted, and I'm going to take on a role here that hopefully I've been waiting for too. I'm going to make the most of it and I'm going to do it not only for myself but for our team and the city. I'm not going to shy away from anything."
Roslovic has been a high scorer throughout much of his life, starting with his time with the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets. He filled the net with the U.S. Under-18 team in 2014-15, notching 27 goals and 79 points in 65 games. At Miami University a year later, Roslovic had 26 points in 36 games as a true freshman, and in 97 career AHL games, he has posted 28 goals and 83 points.
"He is a great talent," Gingher said "What I love about his game is the plays he's able to make at speed. You see him skate, he is a very gifted skater. I think his game revolves around confidence, and I think with an opportunity here, I think you're going to see that grow.
"Now it's up to him to take advantage of it, and hopefully he does because I think it sets up well for him to have success with what looks to be the wingers around him and the guys that are there, they need somebody to distribute pucks and that's something he's pretty good at."
Head coach John Tortorella said Roslovic, who didn't go through training camp with the Jets amid his contract dispute, won't be in the lineup Tuesday when the Blue Jackets host Florida as he continues to knock the rust off. When he does debut, though Nationwide Arena will be closed to the hundreds of friends and family that likely would have shown up, he will get to live his dream of skating onto the ice as the cannon blasts.
And for Columbus, Roslovic will be the second player born and bred in the city who grew up attending games dreaming of being on the ice in the sweater to play for the team, joining youth teammate Kole Sherwood.
"It's an added bonus," Kekalainen said. "Obviously we don't make trades based on where the guys are from or what their hometown is, but when we like the player and he's from here, that's an added bonus. I'm sure Jack is the first guy to appreciate what Columbus is all about and how great of a city this is, how great our fans are.
"When I talked to Patrik Laine, he actually told me that Jack has always been a big advocate of the city of Columbus and the Blue Jackets and spoken very highly of both of them, so that's a great start."