Kris Knoblauch’s going to have some tough decisions to make. Not for Saturday’s game against the visiting Vancouver Canucks, but the head coach will in the coming days and weeks when several Edmonton Oilers regulars come off the injured reserve list. Forward Mattias Janmark and defenceman Jake Walman both landed on the IR earlier this week amid the hoopla surrounding the Oilers’ season-opening home game, when they faced (and lost to) the Calgary Flames. They could be back next week, when the team goes on a five-game eastern road trip. Zach Hyman, on the other hand, is on long-term injury reserve and won’t see the ice until at least next month. But the National Hockey League team added veteran Jack Roslovic to the roster on Wednesday, signing the unrestricted free agent to a one-year deal. The 28-year-old American forward is a blue-chip addition, having scored 22 goals for the Carolina Hurricanes last season. The Oilers had called up David Tomasek and Ike Howard – two rookies the Oilers added over the summer with the hopes they’d fit seamlessly into the NHL lineup – after putting Hyman and Janmark on IR. “Typically, you’ve got a roster of 13 and seven, and right now, we’ve got a lot more than that,” Knoblauch told media following Friday’s practice at Edmonton’s Downtown Community Arena. “We’ve got at least one defenceman and probably two forwards that we’ve got to make very difficult decisions (about), so we’ll let it play out.” Knoblauch said Roslovic, an unrestricted free agent who missed NHL training camp and worked out on his own while he mulled who to sign with before inking with Edmonton, won’t play Saturday but will likely suit up for action during the upcoming roadie that includes games against all three New York City-area teams, the Detroit Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators. “Jack has been physically cleared. Medically, he’s good to play,” Knoblauch said. “I’m not sure it’s best to put him in immediately. I think he needs to get a couple of practices in.” Roslovic said he usually finds himself “in pretty good condition” when he attends training camp because he trains all summer like most pros. This year is no different. “People might think I was sitting around, but I wasn’t sitting around. I was working,” the Columbus, Ohio, product said. “It’s been a whole summer process. Everyone around the league does it now. It’s a common thing to do to be ready for an NHL season.”
