ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marco Rossi did everything the Minnesota Wild asked of him.
The 22-year-old forward spent last summer in Minnesota to work on his game, including revamping his skating stride. He showed he was ready for a full-time role from the start of the season, even playing on the top line for stretches. He racked up 21 goals, putting him just on the outside of the Calder Trophy finalist conversation.
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“A year ago, I don’t think we’d be saying he’d have 21 goals,” team president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said. “He put in the work. He proved himself. Off the ice, his habits changed. He changed his way of doing things, and it paid off for him.”
So, you might ask, why would the Wild consider trading the 2020 No. 9 pick?
Well, it’s complicated.
Considering the franchise has been starved for center depth for, well, a couple of decades, it might seem surprising to deal a young center who played primarily in the top six the entire season. And, to be fair, this isn’t a situation where the team is aggressively shopping the touted prospect.
But the Wild have two centers coming in Danila Yurov, who just wrapped up a championship season in the KHL, and Riley Heidt, who is expected to be given every chance to make the team out of camp. Heidt could return to the WHL and Prince George, but if he sticks in Minnesota, it would likely be in a top-six role. That is likely asking a lot of a 19-year-old, but you get the point.
You have Joel Eriksson Ek as a No. 1 or No. 2 center. For now, there are Rossi, Ryan Hartman, Freddy Gaudreau and Marat Khusnutdinov, all of whom play the position. Yurov is likely coming in a year.
There are only so many top-six spots left for the Wild when you have Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, etc. And Minnesota plans to be in the market for a top-six winger in free agency come July 1.
So if you’re the Wild, and you’re not convinced you want to invest long-term in Rossi — who is entering the last year of his entry-level deal before becoming an RFA — do you try to make a move when Rossi’s value is higher?
There aren’t many tradeable assets right now that could lead to impactful change on the roster. Goalie Filip Gustavsson might be on the move, but coming off a down year, it’s unrealistic to expect many suitors in a market that’s already included several goalie trades. Hartman, Marcus Foligno and Zuccarello all have no-move clauses that have kicked in, thanks to their early extensions signed in September. Kaprizov, Boldy and Eriksson Ek aren’t going anywhere. Even Marcus Johansson has a no-trade clause.
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Watch the Stanley Cup playoffs, and you’ll notice how far the Wild have to climb to get into actual contention. The Athletic asked coach John Hynes late in the season what separates the top three teams in the Central Division — the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets — from the Wild, as Minnesota was 0-10-1 against them.
“Some speed, some size, some depth,” he said.
That’s a pretty steep — and humbling — hill to climb.
So if there’s a way to parlay Rossi into a potentially bigger or faster version, likely another former top-10 pick who is looking for a change of scenery, then that is something that could be on the table. Think of the Cutter Gauthier trade, from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Anaheim Ducks.
The Columbus Blue Jackets just hired a new GM and president in Don Waddell, the long-time executive with the Hurricanes. Could Guerin call him regarding a package involving Cole Sillinger or Kent Johnson? How about Kaapo Kakko, the former No. 2 pick from the New York Rangers? How about the University of Michigan’s Rutger McGroarty, who the Winnipeg Jets are reportedly prepping to trade? The coach of the Utah expansion team, Andre Tourigny, coached Rossi in junior and is a huge fan.
This is not to say the Wild aren’t fans of Rossi.
“I think Marco has shown a lot of what we thought he’d be,” said Judd Brackett, the Wild’s director of amateur scouting. “In terms of the timeline to get there, to me that’s not as important as the player we wanted him to be, expected him to be, thought he could be. You still see the same hallmarks, the hockey sense, the two-way play, the details. He’s always been a point-producer and he continues to be. He’s performing very, very well. We’ve seen he’s had his own health concerns, but just the COVID effect on players and their development from that draft, for some of the guys has been slower.
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“That doesn’t mean the high side is not there. It doesn’t mean they won’t reach their potential. But there’s a year of lost development, the path has a hiccup in it for a few of them. You’re still seeing the guys hit those marks. It takes time. It takes opportunity. It takes confidence. That is one of the most important things, is watching him play, the confidence he’s gaining. With that is going to be continued growth.”
Let’s be clear: The Wild aren’t going to give Rossi away. And there’s a very good chance they decide to keep him. He’s coming off a strong World Championship, where he helped make Austria one of the better stories. They rallied from a 6-1 deficit to tie and nearly shock Canada. They upset Finland. That could be a springboard into next season for Rossi, who believes his ceiling is much higher.
GO DEEPER
Wild's Marco Rossi scores a goal to remember as Austria erases a 5-goal deficit vs. Canada at worlds
There’s no rush on this, as Rossi has another year on his entry-level deal before becoming a restricted free agent. The Wild could give it another season to see how Rossi develops, along with the other prospects.
“The one thing is always getting faster, stronger,” Rossi said. “I want to be better. Then my shooting. I know I scored 21 goals. But I think I should have scored more. I had a lot of scoring chances, and I just want to get better with these to score more.”
Rossi is an inspirational, feel-good story. He missed an entire season a few years back with a potentially serious heart condition stemming from COVID-19. He rebounded after getting sent down to AHL Iowa during the 2022-23 season for more seasoning. And he came back better for it, earning a Masterton Trophy nomination.
“Everything he’s been through hasn’t deterred his will and determination to get there,” said Wild assistant GM Mike Murray, the former AHL Iowa GM. “He’s overcome a lot along the way, and it’s really exciting to see. There were setbacks along the way, probably frustration in the timeline internally and for him. But he stuck with the process. He didn’t doubt the organization or where he was. He put the head down and wanted to work.
“He’s a great example for every player we have coming behind him. It took him longer than he envisioned it would when he was the ninth overall pick, but he stuck with it. He trusted in what the organization thought was best for him, and he’s gotten here. Not just here, but he’s been successful here.”
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Moving on from top-10 picks is going to lead to criticism. When the Tampa Bay Lightning dealt former No. 3 pick Jonathan Drouin — coming off a strong playoff run — to the Montreal Canadiens for an unproven defenseman in Mikhail Sergachev (a No. 9 overall pick), fans flipped out. But who got the better of that deal in the long run?
The Wild are coming off a season in which they missed the playoffs for the second time in 12 years. They’re not Cup contenders looking for a tweak. They need to make some changes, and show Kaprizov they can be a team he can win with once the Zach Parise–Ryan Suter buyout cap purgatory ends in a year.
Would moving Rossi help them get there? That remains to be seen.
But keep in mind this fact: What matters in this decision is not what reporters or fans think. It’s what Wild management thinks. If Guerin and company believe the return on a Rossi trade will improve the team this offseason, they’ll pull the trigger.
(Top photo: Nick Wosika / USA Today)
