Coins, as we all know, have two sides, and so do some former first-round picks.

Like the newest Edmonton Oilers forward Jack Roslovic.

He’s a good player — a guy who averages about 40 points a season — but he’s also a player on his fifth NHL team at 28.

So a heads-up.

Or, if this were a Formula One race, there should be a caution flag, even if they’re getting him on a one-season test drive, on the cheap at $1.5 million. He can certainly help with his skills and wheels — he was rotating in at his first Oilers practice Friday with the guys on the top two lines but won’t play Saturday against Vancouver Canucks after missing all of training camp. He can be a top-six guy here or anywhere with his tools, but over his 526 regular-season games and the playoffs his motor has sputtered enough to where teams have wanted more from such an obvious talent.

The pluses:

He can ride with the top guns — last season in Carolina he played some with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, two guys who played in the 4 Nations Face-Off. His production is very good five-on-five; in his career 215 of his 260 points have been at even strength or short-handed. He doesn’t rely on the power play. He is also in the top 10 percentile of NHL skaters, so he gets up and down the ice in a hurry. He plays right wing mostly but he was drafted as a right-shot centre and last year he won 54 per cent of his 355 draws.

He’s also coming to the Oilers at half what he made last season with Carolina, and perhaps half what the Oilers originally offered him over the summer in a contract that was longer than one season.

The negatives:

On an Oilers team with a Cup Or Bust mentality, he has three goals in 45 career post-season games, which is a red flag. Even with his 22 goals last season, he only played nine of Carolina’s 15 playoff games this past spring.

And, those five teams. True, first-round picks often get moved. Still, this a lot of movement for a player picked 25th overall in 2015.

He started with Winnipeg, didn’t like what the Jets were offering in a new deal in 2020, sat out all of camp, and was traded to Columbus with Patrik Laine for Pierre-Luc Dubois in January 2021. The Blue Jackets, thrilled to get a hometown kid, sent him to the New York Rangers for a conditional fourth-round pick in March, 2024. He signed with Carolina as an unrestricted free agent four months later at $2.8 million. But, even with those 22 goals, all but one at even strength, they were lukewarm on bringing him back.

This summer, he was after more money, fired his agent — the four-time Cup-winning agitating big-game winger Claude Lemieux — and got a new one in Justin Duberman. After three months and no deals elsewhere, the Oilers got him for a good dollar. He did get a no-movement clause so the Oilers can’t, say, put him on waivers to get him to Bakersfield if things go sideways, and he also has a clause where he can only be traded to four of the other 27 teams.

So here we are then, the two sides of the Roslovic coin.

This is all about opportunity for Roslovic.

“You got the word right,” he said.

“The theme of the day is opportunity, opportunity to win, opportunity to play with great players. I’ve been to the conference final the last two years and it’s hard to win. The fire’s in me. Having that opportunity again is exciting for me,” he said.

From the very beginning of free-agency, Roslovic and Oilers were talking. But there was no deal in July or August, and in September the sides circled back.

Certainly, it was long, hot summer.

“It wasn’t fun but Stan (GM Bowman) had interest and it’s great to be in a place where you’re wanted, a place where they see a fit, where you can ultimately succeed,” said Roslovic, who will be wearing No. 28.

How can he help this team?

“Speed. Scoring. Trying to be a buzz-saw out there, make plays,” he said.

“I think I’m pretty versatile. I had a good faceoff performance last year but playing on the wing, I’m pretty comfortable. I did it for a bit with two pretty good players last year.”

And, off the ice here?

“Be a good guy in the locker room, fit in, don’t disrupt, and jell.”

Roslovic didn’t skate with a team in Columbus like Ohio State, instead with just himself and a coach, wearing Carolina gear. Not ideal, but he wasn’t sitting around on his couch.

“We got to know each other, chit chat and hang out. You learn how to push yourself, drive your own car, hold yourself to a high standard. I think I did that this summer,” he said.

What was it like not having a team, though, through camp?

“It’s the business side, but I’m a hockey player. I don’t get into that,” he said.

And it’s all ended up well, even a circuitous route.

“I’m familiar with Canada, familiar with the market, familiar with you guys,” he said, indicating the reporters in the scrum. “Having a good chance to put our names on a trophy is huge.”

That’s down the road. For now, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch will try to figure out where and when to play Roslovic, saying he needs more than one practice to be ready. “Probably some time on our New York trip,” he said.

Could he play right wing alongside Connor McDavid if they decide Trent Frederic is better suited for a third-line pugnacious role? Quite possible, or with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Leon Draisaitl on a second line, on right wing? Yes. That would mean moving Matt Savoie, though.

“One thing we want is more depth scoring five-on-five. We don’t need a guy to come in here and be on the power play. He might on the second (unit) but ultimately we want secondary scoring. Jack has shown he’s pretty good at that, to contribute like he does five-on-five. That’s a huge bonus for us,” said Knoblauch.

Would Roslovic be here if the right-winger Hyman wasn’t out until early November, rehabbing from his wrist surgery?

“We’re looking long-term. We’re getting a good player at good money we think can help us. It’s a little bit easier getting him into the lineup without Zach because we are short a right-winger, but Zach has also played on left wing. Maybe when he comes back, he moves there,” said Knoblauch.

There’s too many bodies right now.

“We’ve got some difficult decisions to make … not only getting Jack into the lineup. There’s (Mattias) Janmark out another week, Zach back in about three weeks. Typically you’ve got a roster of 13 (forwards) and seven (defencemen). We have an extra defenceman and probably two forwards to figure out,” said Knoblauch.

This ‘n that: Knoblauch said Walman hasn’t been cleared by the medical staff to play, even though he practised Friday. He remains on IR and not on the roster of 23 … Darnell Nurse is sick, but Knoblauch felt he would play against Vancouver … Knoblauch wouldn’t say who was starting in net. Backup goalie Calvin Pickard came off the ice ahead of first-game starter Stu Skinner after practice, maybe a sign Pickard gets the nod. But Skinner was also working on some things.