“Whatever I have to do to help the team, just be deployed wherever I can be, as long as I’m playing.” That was Jack Roslovic’s response after being asked about the decision to move him from the third line and return him to the top six midway through Wednesday night’s game against the Boston Bruins. Edmonton’s head coach sees things a little differently.
According to Kris Knoblauch, it has become clear that Roslovic is too skilled to be tied to a line of anchors, and that is essentially what the Edmonton Oilers’ third line has become.
It may not have been the Oilers’ intention to come to this conclusion. Still, the reality is becoming unavoidable: they don’t have the horses they need to form a dangerous third line, and they can no longer afford to bury a legitimate top-six forward – not after a 6-2 defeat has proven him too valuable next to the team’s elite stars. Not now that the calendar is turning towards 2026.
Roslovic cannot be used to boost players who are not producing
Some of this is about Roslović’s performance against the Bruins. A big part of that is because no one else is taking the opportunity. As complementary as a player like Roslovic seems to be, he may not be able to bring guys into contention. He certainly couldn’t get much out of Matt Savoie and Mattias Janmark.
But when Roslovic was given the look in an elevated role, he scored. Andrew Mangiapane had essentially shown that the chance he had to make amends with a top six finish would be lost. Knoblauch didn’t shy away from it either, openly saying: “We made that move by putting Roslovic there. We obviously think Roslovic is a better player, but I thought Andrew did some things that helped us.”
Asked whether it is time to keep Roslovic on that second line, Knoblauch replied: “It looks like we need him to play in the top six.”
That’s about as close to an admission that the Oilers’ margin for error has vanished beforehand as Knoblauch has ever offered.
The Oilers can’t sacrifice their top six for their third line
For much of the season, Edmonton has tried to walk a fine line: maintaining a functioning third line while juggling combinations around Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. It feels like they’ve found a first line that clicks. McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman are as solid as they come. But trying to bring someone like Roslović from the second line to boost the third no longer works.
The Bruins game showed exactly why. Draisaitl needed help but didn’t get it from Mangiapane – who played less than eight minutes on a healthy scratch and in a showcase role – and the coaching staff responded accordingly. Roslović advanced. The Mangiapane Ice Age evaporated.
Knoblauch all but confirmed that the Draisaitl-Roslovic-Vasily Podkolzin trio is the way forward. The Oilers are prioritizing stability in the top six over depth optics because weakening their top two lines is simply no longer an option.
This also completely reframes Roslovic’s role. He is no longer a deep luxury or a matchup-based experiment. He is a necessary part of keeping Draisaitl clicking.
As 2026 approaches, the Oilers are learning a hard truth: If you have a forward who can contribute in the top six, you play him there. Trying to put that player in the wrong role is just not good squad management.
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