The Blue Jackets made a roster move on Monday after a busy weekend, recalling defenseman David Jiricek from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
Unfortunately, to make space for Jiricek, something had to give from the active roster. That opportunity presented itself in the form of an injury to Jack Roslovic, who fractured his ankle in last night’s loss to the New York Rangers. If I recall correctly, he winced after blocking a shot partway through the game. But, he stuck it out and finished the game – even taking shifts in overtime.
It’s a tough injury for Roslovic, who started the season off red hot for the Blue Jackets before cooling off over the last couple of weeks. So far, he has 2 goals and 8 points in 14 games for the team this year; spending quite a bit of time on the team’s top line.
Roslovic’s OT goal to end the game is tonight’s @FanaticsBook GOAL OF THE GAME 🌹🤩 pic.twitter.com/TWfILQHKqE
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 22, 2023
But, the Jackets do achieve something that I think was absolutely necessary: getting Jiricek back on the main roster. He looked terrific in his earlier stint with the team, playing mostly with Ivan Provorov on the team’s second defense pair. He scored 1 goal and 3 points in 10 games played, while averaging 13:34 per game.
His stellar play has him ahead of at least three other defensemen on this team’s depth chart, but due to their collective contract situations, the team has seen their hand forced and had to play him in the American Hockey League more than they would probably like to. They’ll still need to clear that logjam on defense, but the injury to Roslovic buys them time to work through potential deals.
The Jackets will be back in action tomorrow night, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins – then again Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes. The schedule only ramps up and gets busier from this point forward, so look for the team to continue to try and find the correct roster on a nightly basis.