Ready or not, this Pilot’s Logbook player review is all about rookie Jack Roslovic.

There were many people this past summer and even as the season started with Jack Roslovic on the Manitoba Moose roster who felt that the young Roslovic was “not NHL ready”

To be fair, Jets fans could have been forgiven for being maybe a bit too patient with Jack as they team they had was already pretty good and with Roslovic thriving as well as he was in the AHL, it didn’t make complete sense to bring him in if he wasn’t absolutely needed.

But then the Jets started having to deal with injuries and when Mark Scheifele went down with a major shoulder injury in late December, it seemed like as good a time as any to give the kid a call up:

January 7 he was finally put into the lineup against the San Jose Sharks and seven games later in Anaheim potted his first NHL goal.

Roslovic bounced up and down the lineup as Paul Maurice tried to find an ideal fit for the youngster playing him mostly on right wing and typically with Bryan Little as his center and Mathieu Perreault on the other wing. It didn’t seem to matter who exactly played with him after a handful of games getting used to the pace of NHL play and finding a place usually on the third line, Roslovic was a solid contributor to his team’s success most nights. In the month of February, he had a point or more in nine of 12 games played.

Jack’s speed and ability are already NHL level, the only question is his ability to make decisions on the ice, but he has shown an aptitude for that as well and shouldn’t be a concern in the years to come.

Roslovic was in an out of the lineup during the playoffs appearing in 10 of the Jets 17 games played. It did seem at times as if the quicker pace of play as well as the uptick in intensity of the games was a bit much for the young player, but there were also moments where he showed flashes of what could be to come with his speed and ability to generate rushes. There is no telling at the moment just how invaluable his taste of playoff action is for his overall development as a player.

It’s hard not to see how well Roslovic did in a limited amount of time this season and not get a bit excited about what next season – which should be a full could bring. Paul Maurice mused at one point early on with having Roslovic in the lineup that he’d like to see how he plays off-wing on the left side of the ice, so that may be something we see this fall in training camp.

If players like Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor represented the first wave of Jets prospects that made an impact on the ice in 2017-18, Jack Roslovic could easily be the leader of the second wave of prospects that do the same in 2018-19. this could mean a continued role on the third line, or depending on how things shake out with free agency and the various signings needed to be made this summer, Roslovic could have a chance to play on the Jets top six group of forwards.

That is, if he’s ready.