Jack Roslovic avoids picking his usual jersey number with Edmonton Oilers

Roslovic will be wearing number 28 with the Edmonton Oilers, last worn by Connor Brown in the 2024-25 season. Roslovic's usual number, or his backup, may have caused a stir in Edmonton.

Number 28 is a pretty large departure from what Roslovic's been wearing in recent years of his career. With the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets, Roslovic normally wore 96.

That number is take by the veteran Jake Walman in Edmonton, so it'd be unavailable to Roslovic. However, last season Roslovic gave up #96 when Mikko Rantanen joined the Hurricanes, and instead picked #98 as his backup.

There's only been one other Edmonton Oiler who wore number 98, and it caused a stir from some of the legacy media. Jesse Puljujarvi wore the number from 2016-2019, but changed it after receiving backlash.

Plenty of Oilers media members thought it was disrespectful to wear number 98, just one away from Wayne Gretzky, in the city he made the number famous.

There's one other 90's number that's unofficially off-limits in Edmonton too. Corey Perry revealed he was denied wearing 94 with the Oilers which may also hint to a future retirement of Ryan Smyth.

Roslovic must have had a debriefing as he joined the Oilers, or someone in upper management may have said that number is unofficially unavailable. It's probably for the best.

Hopefully Roslovic can impress in his debut game tonight with the Oilers, and prove himself to be a valuable piece to this team.