PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night in a Hockey Night in Canada clash at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 8:00 p.m. MDT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin 30 minutes before puck-drop, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks

EDMONTON, AB – Strength in numbers.

Ahead of Saturday's visit from the Vancouver Canucks for a Hockey Night in Canada matchup at Rogers Place, the Edmonton Oilers added to their already crowded lineup with a proven contributor in forward Jack Roslovic, who they hope can add some solid even-strength scoring to their squad this season.

Roslovic, who had 22 goals and 17 assists in 81 games for the Carolina Hurricanes last season, was signed by the Oilers to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million on Wednesday, just as the first period had ended on what wound up to be a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames in their Home Opener.

Oilers General Manager & Executive VP of Hockey Operations Stan Bowman said that Roslovic is precisely the type of player they were looking at during free agency, and that they would've been looking to add someone of his calibre at the trade deadline if they hadn't been able to strike a deal on Wednesday.

A lot worked in the Oilers' favour to sign an established 40-point scorer like Roslovic, who's sure to provide a lot of value on a one-year deal for their third straight attempt at getting back to the Stanley Cup Final, and Bowman feels fortunate that the 28-year-old native of Columbus, OH was open to signing.

Roslovic scored 21 of his 22 goals with Carolina last season at even strength while playing alongside the likes of Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, so there was plenty of interest from the Oilers in signing him for his five-on-five play after the opportunity arose when he couldn't secure a long-term contract.

"We actually talked about it a couple of weeks ago that he's the type of player that we would be wanting to look for around the trade deadline," Bowman said. "He's available now, and he's a free agent, and you can get him signed at a low amount. So instead of waiting to see what was available, we thought he could be a really nice piece to our group right now, and he's had good experience as far as even strength scoring last year. He might have led their team in even-strength points, so that's really important."

"That's the one thing we're trying to add to our group is even strength scoring, so I think that's something that Jack does really well. We also like his speed. He brings a lot of quickness to his game. He can make plays and play with good players. He's an offensive player and he plays at a high pace, so I think those qualities fit perfectly with our group here."

For Roslovic, who skated in a top-six white jersey and rotated in with elite names like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl during his first practice with the Oilers on Friday morning, it's all about 'opportunity' as he looks forward to being a part of a contender that's been to the Cup Final two straight years.

“That's going to be the theme of today. Opportunity to win; opportunity to play with great players,” Roslovic said. “I've been to the Conference Final the last two years too, and these guys obviously went all the way. But the fire is in me too. I want to win. I know how hard it is, so it's a great opportunity.”

“I'm here now. I want to focus on being here, playing well, and doing what I bring from a hockey standpoint. That's where the focus is now.”

Though he was on the ice on Friday, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said that Roslovic will likely need a few more practices with the team before he likely plays his first game for the Oilers on their upcoming five-game Eastern road trip that begins Tuesday at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

"There are some extra meetings to catch him up on everything that he missed through training camp," Knoblauch said. "So no matter what, if we get a player in October or at the deadline in March, they've got to catch up on what we're doing systems-wise. You need to show them some of that stuff, but not overwhelm them with every little detail. But he's got to know what our forecheck is, what we're trying to do in the neutral zone, defensive zone and those sorts of things, so there's some time spent with coaches and getting up to speed."

Knoblauch confirmed that defenceman Jake Walman will not play after being moved to IR in order for the Oilers to get Roslovic on the roster.

Forwards Zach Hyman and Mattias Janmark also remain on IR, with Knoblauch saying on Friday there's been no chance from Hyman's original timeline of returning to the lineup sometime around the start of November.

Defenceman Darnell Nurse missed practice on Friday due to illness but is expected to play against the Canucks on Saturday.

The addition of Roslovic will give the Oilers extra depth until decisions have to be made when the likes of Walman, Hyman and Janmark are ready to come off IR, but Coach Knoblauch is comfortably letting that process play out until they're hand is forced in the coming weeks when those players are healthy.

"We've got some difficult decisions to make," he said. "Not only Jack coming to the lineup, but Janmark in about a week and Hyman in about three weeks. We've got a lot of decisions to make and typically, you've got a roster of 13 forwards and seven defencemen. Right now we've got a lot more than that. So we've got at least one defenceman and probably two forwards that we've got to make a tough decision on.

"We'll let it play out. We don't need to make any decisions right now. We still have some games before that happens."