A recent surge in scoring from Jack Roslovic started seeing his name featured more prominently in trade rumours (and the fact that he's an unrestricted free agent didn’t hurt). The forward has just 23 points in 40 games this season for Columbus, but had 13 points and 44 shots on goal in 12 games since being moved to the Blue Jackets' top line.

That was enough for the Rangers to see, apparently, as they traded for Roslovic minutes before the deadline hit:

Roslovic was in his fourth season with Columbus and his best year came in 2021-22 when he had 22 goals and 45 points. The return is a fourth-round pick in the 2026 Draft that becomes a third if the Rangers get to the Stanley Cup Final.

What New York Gets

Though he's never put up monster offensive numbers, there is a clear need for Roslovic on New York's top line (or the second line, depending how we view the Mika Zibanejad unit). That line had been producing well enough offensively at 5-on-5 with Blake Wheeler, but the Wheeler injury left a big hole on the right side.

The hope for New York was that Kaapo Kakko could help out with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, and he does defensively. The problem is that line, going back years, has very poor offensive numbers with Kakko, which is why Wheeler was an important piece to that roster, even at this stage of his career.

Enter Roslovic. He has not, and likely will never, be known for his defensive prowess, but he is a good playmaker, and he's good in transition. From AllThreeZones, he had good playmaking numbers in 2022-23 and his recent play has shown the same:

He won't bring anywhere near the defensive capabilities that Kakko does, but he will (or should) help the top line actually score some goals, and considering Zibanejad has fewer 5-on-5 goals than Wheeler, Will Cuylle, and Jimmy Vesey, that line needs it.

Roslovic won't get the same ice time he was receiving in Columbus recently – the Artemi Panarin line is the team's top line – and he's a long ways from top power play time, so expecting what he's done over the last few weeks to persist is asking far too much. His fantasy value should be fine with maybe 9-10 points the rest of the way, but it is a definite boost for Zibanejad and Kreider. This also puts Kakko on the third line long-term, so long as everything works out as the Rangers are hoping.

It will be interesting to see who takes Roslovic's spot in Columbus because playing on the top line is not nothing. Justin Danforth has seen some time up there this season, but maybe they try to get Kirill Marchenko going by moving him off of Dmitri Voronkov's line. Alex Nylander is definitely a candidate with his production of late, but the team seems to like him with Cole Sillinger.

Who This Helps

Justin Danforth

Kirill Marchenko

Mika Zibanejad

Who This Hurts

Kaapo Kakko

Jimmy Vesey

Jack Roslovic