Yeah you may be right about Roslovic and I'm not even arguing that he's by far the best potential candidate for the job. He certainly wasn't, or rather didn't seem like one last season. Then again he's just reaching to the age where a lot of players make their breakthroughs. Just look at Zibanejad for instance who was already 25 when he finally figured things out. Aside from the experience Roslovic has traits Copp doesn't have which are crucial for any top six center. Being able to move around with the puck more fluidly, having a pretty decent shot, more advanced passing capabilities and I think generally he sees the ice better than Copp. When is the last time he really got a good showcase in the better half of the twelve men forward crew? Can't even remember.
I've been paying attention to Copp a lot and his distribution ability is far below than any average C in the league. Now particularly for a center that's a huge red flag. He doesn't connect all that often and wastes opportunities and once a link breaks the tide turns as we know. I do like the way he's pushing forward unafraid of getting his hands dirty and generally doing his best out there, but I'd prefer soft hands instead of a rigid pair. Which is why I mentioned that instead of waiting yet another injury, Maurice could at least try it for one or two games. Even with improved wingers of Laine and Connor, they really haven't been able to create as much high end scoring chances as one could hope for, yet at the end they wouldn't even need a great C, just a good one.
But as I mentioned if Roslo isn't ready or doesn't have it within him then I see either Wheelers or Perreault as the other potential candidates. The problem with the two is they've spend the past years on the wings but both have at least some experience. Looking further by now it's abundantly clear Little should stay far away from the youngsters/top six and unless Maurice isn't willing to reunite him with Wheelers (which he clearly isn), then these are the options. For a team with extremely weak back end, they absolutely cannot afford bad chemistry nor dysfunctional line combinations with missing links, because each top line has to contribute pretty much on nightly basis - in other words, outscore the opponent.
Anyway I'm certain Copp will remain where he is no matter what comes next as long as he's healthy, cause you know Maurice is Maurice. I'd even argue that trying to outsmart him as far as the line utilization is concerned can be done by basically over half of the fan base. Also I'm not complaining since it seems Laine is finally getting a chance to prove himself in the top line (though that may not last more than a one game if he doesn't produce immediately and/or the Jers lose knowing how the things work). Which is of course nice, but at the same time probably unwise to have your best forwards in one line. Anyway I guess the point is you don't know until you try. Doing my best to remain as optimistic as I can but it isn't easy.