The Edmonton Oilers signed free agent forward Jack Roslovic to a one-year, US$1.5-million deal on Wednesday. Roslovic scored 22 goals and 17 assists in 81 games last season with the Carolina Hurricanes. The 28-year-old American added a goal and three assists in nine playoff games. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said Wednesday night, as his team opened its regular season against the visiting Calgary Flames, that he had been talking to Roslovic and his agent since the summer. “We’ve been in touch the entire time, and I said the same thing the other day when this picked back up, which was ‘We love the player but we don’t have a lot of money (salary cap room) to spend right now, so if he wants to come here and kind of bet on himself and wants to play, we’d love to have him,’” Bowman told media at Rogers Place after the Oilers announced the signing during the game. “I think he was weighing his options, and he decided that this was the place he wanted to be ... “Instead of waiting to see what was available (via trade), we think he could be a really nice piece to add to our group right now.” The addition of Roslovic, a right-shot winger/centre who had become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, came the same day the Oilers signed defenceman Mattias Ekholm to a three-year, $12-million contract extension. It also comes two days after they extended defenceman Jake Walman’s contract by seven years for $49 million and star captain Connor McDavid for two seasons and $25 million. Roslovic was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets 25th overall at the 2015 National Hockey League Draft. The Oilers are Roslovic’s fifth NHL club, having played for the Jets, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Hurricanes. He’s scored 102 goals and 158 assists for 260 points in 526 career games.
