New Carolina Hurricanes' general manager, Eric Tulsky is putting his stamp on this roster as we inch closer to the start of the 2024-25 campaign. Unfortunately, the Canes are in a difficult spot with all the free agent departures and the restricted free agents still needing a contract or trade partner. As goes with the job, some moves will be questioned and some praised but the final judgment won't be for another year.
Tulsky needed to replace the players heading out the door and quickly on July 1st. The focus was on the defense after losing Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce in the early afternoon. His replacements were under the radar but very strong. However, much was left to be desired at the forward position.
As July 7th is upon us, the forward group still lacks the scoring to compete with the other top tier teams in not only the Eastern Conference but the Metro Division. The signing of former New York Rangers center, Jack Roslovic was announced and all I could think was that it was extremely underwhelming. In Tulsky's eyes, it is a one-year contract for a player with talent that continues to underachieve. But this team already has one of those in Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
So why bring in the right-handed version of Kotkaniemi to the team in the very same position? Surely this cannot be the right-handed centerman that Don Waddell had been planning to acquire since last year.
Roslovic signed on in Carolina for one year worth $2.8 million. He joins a group of centers in Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, Jack Drury, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. It is a position of depth on the roster and the 27-year-old does not provide much improvement over the aforementioned group.
The Ohio native had 9 goals and 31 points between Columbus and New York last season. He was a non factor in the Rangers'non-factor run to the Eastern Conference Finals with just 8 points in 16 games. Having only reached the 20-goal mark once in his career, Roslovic has also failed to reach the 50-point mark.
Similar to Kotkaniemi, this is a make-or-break year for Roslovic. He has had a healthy amount of games in the league to know what type of player he will become. It is not comforting to have two players in this category on the same roster. Also, there are players available that could provide an upgrade over not just Roslovic but other players in the locker room.
The Martin Necas situation will surely be the exclamation point of the summer and show the path for this squad but right now the forwards have not improved from last year and the pressure will increase on Tulsky each day that goes by this summer without an impact acquisition.