Article: Is Marco Rossi A Better Fit On the First Line?

[Phillip Garrett]

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[FredJohnson]

Old Dutch Dip when he reads "Is Marco Rossi A Better Fit On the First Line?"

[FredJohnson]

[Citizen Strife]

He's on pace for 65-70 points, a mark that only 50-75 players in the entire league pulled off last year.  That includes Boldy and Ek, who are "core guys."   So just get that deal done.

[Citizen Strife]

Also, who wants to bet this gets more comments than normal columns again because Rossi is that much a lightning rod?

[mnhockeyfan03]

All I care about is how he plays against the best teams in the west.  Stars, Knights, Kings, Jets.  He gets manhandled by those teams and is nearly invisible.  To be serious in the playoffs we need an upgrade.  That will happen later this year with a trade.  Guessing they are looking at Brock Nelson and resigning him for 3-4mm for next year and that still leaves enough to get boeser at 7-8mm. 

[Protec]

Salary cap to go to 92M. - nhl.com

[mnhockeyfan03]

I also wouldn’t be suprised if we are in talks with the rangers for kaapo Kakko.  He would really help out our bottom 6 and is affordable and a big body who plays well in the playoffs.  If we got Kakko, Nelson, Boeser and added Yurov and Zeev to the mix we are going to have a very stacked team.  If we loose Rossi, spurgeon, nojo, and Fluery to make that happen I am all for it and we will have a chance to make a run. 

[Citizen Strife]

Gotta wonder how many more clutch goals Rossi needs before the heat dies down.  He always seems to be in or around the net when the team needs that tying or go ahead goal.

"but man he's small."

 

 

Edited yesterday at 08:43 AM by Citizen Strife

[Pewterschmidt]

12 hours ago, FredJohnson said:

Old Dutch Dip when he reads "Is Marco Rossi A Better Fit On the First Line?"

Scanners was the movie?  

[Pewterschmidt]

10 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Brock Nelson and resigning him for 3-4mm for next year

This is what we pay the Yak 

[Pablo]

Rossi just turned 23. He will always be small but he has developed well since being drafted in 2020. He is small and fast and puts the puck in the net. Thats all that matters.  Our top 6 is deep when EK and Zuc are healthy. We still can tread water and win without them while they get  healthy so just let the kid play his game.  When Ek gets back, he should be on the 2nd line and spend more time on the PP. our PP sucks rn for the most part. I can’t wait for all the haters to shut up when Rossi ends the season with more points than games played. 

[Pewterschmidt]

Build this kid a bridge Guerin.  He's shown he's worth the investment.  Get r done!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

5 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Gotta wonder how many more clutch goals Rossi needs before the heat dies down.  He always seems to be in or around the net when the team needs that tying or go ahead goal.

"but man he's small."

Seems kind of like Fiala(who's scored at a 29 goals/80 games pace the last 5 seasons), with the clutch goals, but without the questionable defense and attitude.

Like Fiala, he also has questionable support from the GM despite production and a bright future. Guerin could be coming around on him based upon his play this year, but we don't really know right now.

[Citizen Strife]

I listened to a bit of Wild on 7th, and Carter pointed out a game stat that 5/6 of Rossi's last few points came with Kap.  What the "Rossi's a passenger" people won't like is that 5/6 of Kap's points came with Rossi too.

Lest we forget that when Rossi went to line 2 with Hartman and Mojo, what line picked up their play?  Who was it who fed Middsy early on against the Jets first game?  Who was it that took advantage of Bob having a shit game and punched in a goal on the Panthers?

Rossi doesn't go multiple games without points, or he makes up for droughts with multi point games.  I'm continuing to see him in the mix and he has almost as many points as Boldy and is third on the team by a mile, even with Zuccarello out.

Rossi helps this team win.  If the playoffs come, and he gets shit, fine.  But he I would bet he wouldn't be the only guy not scoring.  He's still a guy worth betting on to consistently get you there.

They aren't garbage points either.  He scored with a minute to go last night.  The team needed scoring balance, and guess who stepped up?  How much more evidence does he need?

 

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 02:03 PM by Citizen Strife

[Protec]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

This is what we pay the Yak 

Fair to point out he has no trade protection. He's behind last season's pace offensively which isn't good but ask Stamkos or Marchesseault how that goes moving to a new team. 

His hits and blocks are the same as last year. Perhaps he's Yurov protection for next year. He had a near miss last night and I'll give ya the Big Yak cumbersome qualities but it's not a guy who lacks effort. He's not defensively a liability, his AAV is fine if he gets back to even keel offensively. I've seen Foligno, Fred, and Hartman go through some downs too. I think he makes MN a harder team to play against. Yakup is muscle and balance for MN's winning mixture. Clearly the Wild have improved. It wasn't long ago comments here said they'd miss the playoffs or barely get in. #13 hasn't blown the doors of anyone's expectations but he's hardly useless or a contract that weighs down the overall. He's a little like a NoJo, nothing noteworthy nine times out of ten. Not the best player or price but not the end of the world. 

[Protec]

30 minutes ago, Pablo said:

Rossi just turned 23. He will always be small but he has developed well since being drafted in 2020. He is small and fast and puts the puck in the net. Thats all that matters.  Our top 6 is deep when EK and Zuc are healthy. We still can tread water and win without them while they get  healthy so just let the kid play his game.  When Ek gets back, he should be on the 2nd line and spend more time on the PP. our PP sucks rn for the most part. I can’t wait for all the haters to shut up when Rossi ends the season with more points than games played. 

I was never really sold on Rossi early. I was extra suspicious when he had the heart issues. That was more of a worry, he'd drop dead as Euro footballers were going down like dominoes. 

He has since made the Wild's team and cemented an NHL role. That has been impressive and I wouldn't call questioning his fit for MN longterm "hate". I think it is a fair question. Heavy Western teams have been hard for Rossi to overcome. There's regular season and there's playoffs. We know this and would trading Rossi be fun, no. Might it be important or a failing gamble like we see in Nashville? Sure, could be either. Will Rossi figure it out like he has on other stuff? I think he's been great, I now like him. He is certainly a solid NHL value. Gotta be a tough spot for Guerin. Personally, I would like to keep Rossi, but I admit there's a potential upgrade that MN could use in the playoffs in five months. B. Nelson or B. Tkachuk both make ya wonder if Rossi would be an okay price to pay. After all Rossi is gonna require a payday. Will it be 8.75 or whatever B.Tkachuk makes? No, probably not that high but getting close based on his production. With the cap going up, it's just the tough questions a serious GM should ask. 

[FredJohnson]

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Scanners was the movie?  

Yup. 👍 

[Citizen Strife]

The Nashville flatline is exactly why I don't trust the, "this next guy is so much better, just dump a good thing while you're ahead" approach.  Rossi has done all this work under the Wild system, under the Wild banner.  He knows what works, and made himself almost indispensible.  Not untradeable, but it has to be worthy of said luck.  Not a 3rd line bust like Kaako, not some more draft picks.  It has to be some guy who not only brings what Rossi doesn't, but either makes up for it with the proven track record required that won't just be "Welp, Stamkos WAS good once."

This isn't a Rossi or Yurov thing.  We don't know what Yurov is going to be.  We know what Rossi is right now, and that's a guy that makes Top 50-75 production (so mid-1st line or elite 2nd line) viable.  Unless the other teams offer that same thing, I'd rather not just cause, "He big.  He not big"

Edited yesterday at 03:09 PM by Citizen Strife

[FredJohnson]

6 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Gotta wonder how many more clutch goals Rossi needs before the heat dies down.  He always seems to be in or around the net when the team needs that tying or go ahead goal.

"but man he's small."

 

 

Like last night's game tying tally to get to overtime??

This team would be SO good if Rossi wasn't a bust. (Sarcasm)

[FredJohnson]

1 hour ago, Citizen Strife said:

What the "Rossi's a passenger" people won't like is that 5/6 of Kap's points came with Rossi too.

"Rossi's a passenger" people:

[Citizen Strife]

The thing about the Boeser/Nelson/Yurov/Tuch, whatever situation is.  At least with Yurov, you have the potential of saying, "Wait, so Yurov can outplay a Top 50/PPG guy for top line minutes and they BOTH play here?"  Well shit.  Yeah, Rossi's production might slip being a 2nd or 3rd line guy, but you know he'd been that top line guy already.  There's precedent for production and solid defensive play, and you know he's not going to skimp and fight to get and keep those top minutes.  You could only dream of guys that committed to being better.

The other options either come via a Rossi trade, or waiting for Kap's money and by then, they may or may not sign here.  Hence the Stamkos/Marchessault gambit.  Say a Boeser or a Nelson don't hit or only hit at what Rossi's already giving you...for more money.  Welp gee.  That's a pretty stupid outcome.

And the "but the playoffs" thing.  Has THIS Marco Rossi, has THIS Brock Faber, Kaprizov, Boldy, Gus, etc been in the playoffs?  no.  Because last year forced them to not be.  They are way better players now.  We don't know what Rossi does or doesn't do.  I'm withholding judgment on these players in that scenario (and screwing up what is looking like a good thing) just because the "chance" they might not be great in high pressure games.  

Edited yesterday at 03:25 PM by Citizen Strife

[Pewterschmidt]

18 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

Yup. 👍 

I remember pre-pubescent Pewter was scared shitless by this clip back in the day

[Protec]

One thing that's interesting looking at the standings right now today is, the pts.% between the 16th and 17th ranked teams league-wide. The highest % of the lower group is no higher than .540%. NYR actually is the highest at .537%. When you look at the upper group. BOS is at .550% which is the lowest, but TBL is 16th at .577% having only played 26 games.

It's a third of the way into the season and it appears that .600% is the approximate benchmark for certain playoff birth. Teams in the top ten are at or above .630%. Minnesota, being at .750% is really impressive with the injuries they've had. There's good reason to be cautious cause lots of hockey is left to play. It does look good though, the consistency MN has had thus far. They don't look like a team that will buckle. They've been playing with confidence and teams wanna beat them. It's not easy games they play. In the losses, they've never crumbled. You can't always get the bounces and sometimes the goalie can get rolling and shut you down. We've seen that from Gus and Fluery this season, so expect it to catch our team too.

This is another year when MN is a top team, lets hope their contender status sticks and they can carry it into the post-season.

Edited yesterday at 04:17 PM by Protec

[OldDutchChip]

He is on pace to finish the season with 78 points. I doubt he will get to those numbers, but his best chance would be between Kaprizov and Boldy or Zuccarello. 

Yeap exactly - we are in the business of helping players reach their best point total! Cause winning SC is not MN way. But yeah let’s give Rossi best chance to get most points by pairing up with Kap. (We can also put MJ there the rest of the way and I bet he scores 80pts)

Let’s not think of what’s best for the superstar! He is just loving  the chance to go into playoffs with two midgets. That worked out well before! I suppose he can be the brute of the line! 

And then let’s pay 5’8 kid 8 million, cause once Kap leaves- Rossi proven he can drive his line and deliver. Instead of Kap - we will have Rossi and Brocks!! (while Kap joins Mitchy in Philly land)

No No - Billy will keep a close eye on this stretch of games to see how he plays against more physical west teams. The reality that pts mean $ and the cost to retain Rossi will be more than Boldy. And that is just not happening. Bridge likely won’t happen because there is going to be an offer sheet, so at this point you either commit to overpay or sell high. 

What do you think Billy will do? Yeah I bet he is going to try for BT. 😭