Laine has scored 140 goals in 306 NHL games since he was the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. Tortorella said the initial plan is for the 22-year-old to play left wing with center Max Domi, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Montreal Canadiens. The hope is the newcomers can find chemistry relatively quickly.
"When I've watched him from afar he's so dangerous coming down that left side," Tortorella said of Laine. "We've got to figure that out.
"I'll admit it, I have probably five or six lineups on my pad of paper right now, but who knows what our health of our team is going to be when he does get here. So we're going to see what happens and see what we look like at that point in time."
Laine, who was injured in the Jets' season opener Jan. 14 and hasn't played since, needs visa issues to be ironed out before he can join the Blue Jackets. Roslovic will make his debut against the Florida Panthers at Nationwide Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-F, NHL.TV).
Tortorella said it irks him that Dubois became the latest player to want out of Columbus, following former Blue Jackets like forward Artemi Panarin and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, each a free agent who left before last season. The coach said he did not attempt to convince Dubois to stay after the 22-year-old let it be known he wanted to be traded after he signed a two-year, $10 million contract as a restricted free agent on Dec. 31, 2020.
Laine will be a restricted free agent after this season.
"I don't believe in trying to change someone's mind," said Tortorella, who is in his sixth season as Columbus coach. "My relationship with Luc is just like anybody else's on this team. My job is, I'm going to push you. I'm going to hold you accountable. There is a certain standard that we want here, and that we all live by. If someone doesn't want to be here, and that's a hard thing for me to stomach, quite honestly ... well, my back gets up a little bit."
In Dubois' final game with the Blue Jackets, on Jan. 21, he played five shifts for 3:55 in the first period before being benched for the remainder of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tortorella said he would not change anything if he could do it over again.
"I don't have regrets," he said. "Did Luc and I have conflict? Darn right we've had conflict. People say, 'Well what's going on there?' Conflict is a good thing. I just think if you're honest with a player, and you're trying to find where we're supposed to go together, coach and player, and then as a team."
Dubois, who had not missed a game in his NHL career, cannot play for Winnipeg until he completes his quarantine related to COVID-19. Drafted No. 3 behind Laine and Auston Matthews (No. 1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs) in 2016, he scored one goal in five games this season and 159 points (66 goals, 93 assists) in 239 games with the Blue Jackets. He was scolded numerous times by Tortorella on the bench during his time in Columbus.
"You're not always going to have agreements, it's not always good," Tortorella said. "If everybody's happy, you're going about it the wrong way as far as I'm concerned."
