After an electric start with his hometown team, Jack Roslovic has come back down to earth.
After tallying 4-6-10 in his first ten games with the Blue Jackets, Roslovic has only managed 1-3-4 in the next ten. As a result of John Tortorella's line blender, he's no longer with Cam Atkinson and Patrik Laine.
Tonight, he'll play with two forwards who are also struggling to get going this season: Max Domi and Emil Bemstrom, who are both capable of much more offensively than they've shown so far.
"I watch all of my games back, and I didn't play well (on Tuesday)," said Roslovic this morning. "It hasn't been my best these past couple (games), and that's just garbage. I know I need to do better.
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Roslovic only played 11:50 in Tuesday night's loss against the Panthers, his first game not on a line with Laine and Atkinson in a while.
"I liked the lines...I didn’t like [Roslovic],” said Tortorella. “I don’t think [Roslovic] competed hard enough, so we kind of moved things around in the third period. I’m hoping he understands how hard we have to play.”
There's no question that Roslovic's offensive game is his best, most well-developed skill, but that's not enough for a Tortorella-lead team. Roslovic acknowledged that his play in the neutral and defensive zones need work, and he's going to keep trying to improve those areas.
"It's easier to sit here and say it on camera, but I just gotta be better," said Roslovic.
To be fair to him, the Blue Jackets acquired him from Winnipeg and immediately thrust him into the number-one center role here, which was very new for Roslovic. He spent most of his time in Winnipeg on the third or fourth line, and sometimes on the wing, so being "the man" in Columbus was something unexpected.
The Blue Jackets are inexperienced at center across the board, and Tortorella has tried to deal with that problem all season. Currently, Riley Nash is centering Oliver Bjorkstrand and Patrik Laine, so there's that.
"He's very inexperienced at the position, very inexperienced," Tortorella said yesterday. "I don't know if he is a center. I think that's been an inconsistency right on through with us...Through our need, we have forced him into that situation. I think we have to patient there. But I'll tell you right now, I'm not going to be patient as far as competitiveness."
It's known that Tortorella won't hesitate to bench players if he doesn't like the effort that he's getting. Bemstrom, Roslovic, and Domi are three players that have drawn the ire of Tortorella at different times this season, so that's a line to keep an eye on tonight.
