Jack Roslovic’s start with the Toronto Maple Leafs has been the kind that makes people take notice. The former Rangers forward has been producing at the best rate of his NHL career, but this weekend also showed how quickly things can change when injuries start piling up.
His seven-game point streak ended Saturday in a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and then Sunday brought a bigger setback: Roslovic was a late scratch with a lower-body injury in Toronto’s 4-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
The injury issues have been building. Roslovic had already been working through a nagging unspecified problem, and Saturday added another hit when Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky caught him in the mouth with a stick.
“He wanted to play,” Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller explained Satuday. “He said, ‘You know what, I’ll be alright.
I think I can do it.’ And then he was just unable. it was a hard one to gauge.”
Roslovic also took a maintenance day earlier in the week and missed practice, though he had played in all 18 games before Sunday. He described the missed session this way: “Just taking the day off, trying to feel my best for Saturday and Sunday,” Roslovic told reporters Friday about the missed practice.
Even with the injury concerns, the numbers have been strong. Roslovic is third on the Maple Leafs with eight goals and 18 points.
His eight even-strength goals are tied with Auston Matthews for the team lead, and his 17:00 minutes TOI average is the highest of his career. He’s scoring at a point-per-game pace and is on track to top his previous career high of 45 points with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2021-22.
“You’re always building throughout the year,” Roslovic explained. “There’s obviously some good games, and some bad games. But it’s about staying consistent throughout the whole year, just trying to bring it every night and give your max effort.”
The 29-year-old signed a two-year, $8 million contract with Toronto this summer, and his game has long flashed the kind of skill that gets attention. The issue has always been consistency, the thing that has frustrated past coaches and teams.
That included Peter Laviolette and the Rangers, who acquired Roslovic ahead of the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline and gave him a prime spot alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. He finished with eight points, including three goals and five assists, in 19 regular-season games while averaging 13:27 of ice time. In the playoffs, he added two goals and eight points in 16 games, but by the time the Rangers were knocked out by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final, he had already been moved to the fourth line.
Roslovic later scored 22 goals with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2024-25 and 21 with the Edmonton Oilers last season. Now, with Matthews on his line and Matthews sitting sixth in the NHL with 27 points, Roslovic’s hot start in Toronto is drawing fresh attention.
Before Sunday’s scratch, Roslovic had piled up 12 points, including five goals and seven assists, in eight games. The question now is how quickly he can shake off the injury and pick up where he left off.
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