Article: The Wild Should Target David Reinbacher In A Rossi Trade

[Kalisha Turnipseed]

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[0 Stanley Cups]

I like the way Rossi plays, even though he's undersized for BG.  Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like he'll be around much longer.  But you can't move Rossi without getting some center depth in return.  EE will probably be dealing with injuries often the way he plays the game.  Hartsy and Gaudreau (not a fan) are serviceable depth centers at 30+ yrs old.  If we land Brock Nelson, he'll be 34, so how much tread is left on those tires.  Yurov could take a couple years to even get to Rossi's current level.  The Wild have needed help at center for 15-20 years, and that should be priority number one for BG this offseason even if you have to package Rossi with other high draft picks.  Maybe we could trade for McTavish (ANA), Mercer (NJD), Wright (SEA) or Danielson (DET minors), they're still young enough where it shouldn't cost too much, but still have some experience.  BG has made some decent moves that have been low risk, but he needs to finally take a big swing for a center. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

No, if the Wild trade Rossi, it will be a for an established goal scoring forward, not a minor league defenseman.

[Citizen Strife]

So the speculative "trade this guy for THAT guy" spree begins.

And yes, the team is going to go for offense more than anything else.  They don't need defensemen.

[Citizen Strife]

That said, it's probably better than THIS offer.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/05/04/utah-hockey-club-matias-maccelli-marco-rossi-andre-tourigny/

Maccelli and other stuff for Rossi.  No thanks to either.

Edited May 5 by Citizen Strife

[MNCountryLife]

I didn't see Spurgeon get exposed by Vegas.   IMO: He was perhaps our best defenseman.  I wouldn't say any of our other defenders did any better than Spurge in front of our own net.  Our D core for next season should be set.  Spurge, Mids, Brodin, Faber, Buium and Jiricek with Bogo at #7.   

[Patrick]

This is a classic example of why I'm convinced this author is in fact AI.  The one position where the Wild have ABSOLUTLY ZERO need is defense.  

Trade your position of greatest need to your position of least need. 🤡🤦‍♂️

[1Brotherbill]

The Wild have three options for Rossi.  One is sign him to a contract, which is probably the best option.  That number is going to be 7 to 8.5 but not over 9.  That is a ridiculously high number everyone is going to say.  The reason is that he is scoring at a better pace than everyone above him in his draft class except for one and they are all paid in that range.  Another reason that signing him for 7. to 8.5 is a certainty is that fact that he is a RFA and if an offer sheet is put in front of him it will be in that range.  The Wild have two options if he is offered a RFA contract from someone else.  Pay more for him or let him go.

Letting him go on a RFA offer sheet is the second best option.  The compensation will be a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd round draft picks.  People are going to say nobody is going to pay that for Rossi.  In the past that would be true because nobody had the money to spend.  Now basically everyone has that much money to spend, this year, next year, the year after.  Over half of the league has the flexibility to spend that much on a scoring Center to push their team over the top.  The financials in the league are going to be crazy for a few years.

The worst option by far is to trade Rossi for anything.  The return on that trade would not be better than having Rossi on the team.  Trading Rossi for a defenseman is possibly the worst thing the team could do in the history of the franchise.  Why would you trade Rossi for a defenseman?  Next season the Wild will be set for Defenseman.  Spurgeon, Brodin, Middleton, Faber, Buium will be the top five.  In the mix for the six and seventh defenseman will be Bogo, Jiricek, Chisholm (if signed), Lambos, Spacek and a few others that might make an impact that are in the system.  The Wild are good at defense for a decade or more.  

Sing Rossi, or let him go on RFA.  DO NOT TRADE HIM!!!!!

[SkolWild73]

1 hour ago, 1Brotherbill said:

The Wild have three options for Rossi.  One is sign him to a contract, which is probably the best option.  That number is going to be 7 to 8.5 but not over 9.  That is a ridiculously high number everyone is going to say.  The reason is that he is scoring at a better pace than everyone above him in his draft class except for one and they are all paid in that range.  Another reason that signing him for 7. to 8.5 is a certainty is that fact that he is a RFA and if an offer sheet is put in front of him it will be in that range.  The Wild have two options if he is offered a RFA contract from someone else.  Pay more for him or let him go.

Letting him go on a RFA offer sheet is the second best option.  The compensation will be a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd round draft picks.  People are going to say nobody is going to pay that for Rossi.  In the past that would be true because nobody had the money to spend.  Now basically everyone has that much money to spend, this year, next year, the year after.  Over half of the league has the flexibility to spend that much on a scoring Center to push their team over the top.  The financials in the league are going to be crazy for a few years.

The worst option by far is to trade Rossi for anything.  The return on that trade would not be better than having Rossi on the team.  Trading Rossi for a defenseman is possibly the worst thing the team could do in the history of the franchise.  Why would you trade Rossi for a defenseman?  Next season the Wild will be set for Defenseman.  Spurgeon, Brodin, Middleton, Faber, Buium will be the top five.  In the mix for the six and seventh defenseman will be Bogo, Jiricek, Chisholm (if signed), Lambos, Spacek and a few others that might make an impact that are in the system.  The Wild are good at defense for a decade or more.  

Sing Rossi, or let him go on RFA.  DO NOT TRADE HIM!!!!!

You are right that many have the money to offer the 7M-9.5M, but only 13 teams have their own 1st, 2nd and 3rd to be able to do so. Only two of those teams made the playoffs this year.  LA and New Jersey.

It is possible some of the lottery teams will make one, but it is huge gamble if they don’t improve enough and end up in the lottery next year.  Especially after the Islanders just jumped from 10-1 and Utah from 14-4 this year.
 

Not saying it isn’t possible that those teams do that, but I think it is more likely that a team stays below the threshold to keep it at a 1st and 3rd, since there are more playoff teams in that group.

[Scalptrash]

13 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

One is sign him to a contract, which is probably the best option.  That number is going to be 7 to 8.5 but not over 9.

Billy won't pay him as much as Boldy. Billy wants to pay him based on size, not skill, and offered him $5Mx5. With the cap going up and being a couple of years after Boldy's deal, Rossi should get $7Mx7, which would match Boldy, but Billy just won't do that, he doesn't understand this type of player. He wants his team composed of Billy clones at every position.

[hydguy75]

On 5/5/2025 at 1:52 PM, Patrick said:

Trade your position of greatest need to your position of least need. 🤡🤦‍♂️

Exactly.  We were able to hang with Vegas because of our defense.  We were not able to defeat Vegas because of our lack of a complete offensive game.  

Edited May 7 by hydguy75

[1Brotherbill]

On 5/6/2025 at 10:00 AM, Scalptrash said:

Billy won't pay him as much as Boldy. Billy wants to pay him based on size, not skill, and offered him $5Mx5. With the cap going up and being a couple of years after Boldy's deal, Rossi should get $7Mx7, which would match Boldy, but Billy just won't do that, he doesn't understand this type of player. He wants his team composed of Billy clones at every position.

That is perfectly fine.  Someone else can pay him that and the Wild can get a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick.

[1Brotherbill]

On 5/5/2025 at 9:51 PM, SkolWild73 said:

You are right that many have the money to offer the 7M-9.5M, but only 13 teams have their own 1st, 2nd and 3rd to be able to do so. Only two of those teams made the playoffs this year.  LA and New Jersey.

It is possible some of the lottery teams will make one, but it is huge gamble if they don’t improve enough and end up in the lottery next year.  Especially after the Islanders just jumped from 10-1 and Utah from 14-4 this year.
 

Not saying it isn’t possible that those teams do that, but I think it is more likely that a team stays below the threshold to keep it at a 1st and 3rd, since there are more playoff teams in that group.

Draft picks do not have to be paid the same year.  The often are but they can be staggered over a few years.  Anything over 4.6 million the Wild get a 1st and 3rd round pick.  Over 6.9 and a 2nd round pick is added.  Over 9.1 gets them 2 1st, 2 2nd, and a 3rd.  Over 11.5 it is 4 1st rounds.  So the draft picks can be spread out over seasons.  If you Offered Rossi a contract he would instantly be better than the first round pick you gave up. 

[SkolWild73]

10 minutes ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Draft picks do not have to be paid the same year.  The often are but they can be staggered over a few years.  Anything over 4.6 million the Wild get a 1st and 3rd round pick.  Over 6.9 and a 2nd round pick is added.  Over 9.1 gets them 2 1st, 2 2nd, and a 3rd.  Over 11.5 it is 4 1st rounds.  So the draft picks can be spread out over seasons.  If you Offered Rossi a contract he would instantly be better than the first round pick you gave up. 

For offer sheets between 6.9 and 9.2 they need to be all in the following year and need to be their own picks.  If it goes over the 9.2 and it is two first round picks, it can be spread out over three years.  Unless I am reading it wrong.

https://puckpedia.com/offer-sheet-tracker

[1Brotherbill]

3 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

For offer sheets between 6.9 and 9.2 they need to be all in the following year and need to be their own picks.  If it goes over the 9.2 and it is two first round picks, it can be spread out over three years.  Unless I am reading it wrong.

https://puckpedia.com/offer-sheet-tracker

Looking at those teams that are eligible to grab Rossi.  You have Boston, Calgary, Detroit, LA, Montreal, New Jersey, Rangers, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis. All these teams are close and would gladly give up the first round pick for Rossi at 5 million a year.  A few of them would pay over 7 million for him.  Smartest thing for the Wild to do is tell Rossi to go find an RFA deal.  If nobody offers more than 5 million for him then you sign him.  If he goes you have draft capital for the trade deadline or next season, plus all the money you have for cap this summer.  

Now if one of those teams offers Rossi a deal that means all the top FA are signed and more than likely they won't be in Minnesota.

July 1st is going to be an interesting time for BG.  If he trades Rossi that would be the worst move he could make. 

[SkolWild73]

5 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Looking at those teams that are eligible to grab Rossi.  You have Boston, Calgary, Detroit, LA, Montreal, New Jersey, Rangers, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis. All these teams are close and would gladly give up the first round pick for Rossi at 5 million a year.  A few of them would pay over 7 million for him.  Smartest thing for the Wild to do is tell Rossi to go find an RFA deal.  If nobody offers more than 5 million for him then you sign him.  If he goes you have draft capital for the trade deadline or next season, plus all the money you have for cap this summer.  

Now if one of those teams offers Rossi a deal that means all the top FA are signed and more than likely they won't be in Minnesota.

July 1st is going to be an interesting time for BG.  If he trades Rossi that would be the worst move he could make. 

Yea, I am hoping he isn’t traded either.  

[Will D. Ness]

Everyone seems to overvalue Rossi.  I am not so sure that Rossi's market value is greatly higher than Anton Lundell's value.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, Will D. Ness said:

Everyone seems to overvalue Rossi.  I am not so sure that Rossi's market value is greatly higher than Anton Lundell's value.

I doubt it's higher than Lundell's.  Lundell's have skated a regular shift on a Cup run, and is playing a regular shift on a 2nd round FLA team this year.  Rossi earned 4th line minutes on a 1st round exit Wild group.