Article: The Marco Rossi Disconnect Shows the Downside of "Best Available Player" Drafting

[MacGyver]

The Rossi/Billy relationship is broke. Much like it was with Fiala . Billy should be out in the media bad mouthing Rossi any day now as it's getting close to time to deal him. However this turns out with Rossi it's on Billy. Rossi would have been happy to play here and was loyal to the Wild. All we can do now is wait to see what we get in return for him and how he does in a different environment. 

 

[MNCountryLife]

14 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

Sure but you have to pay for quality

If You are targeting a top 6 player or even higher (Larkin, Tkachuk, pasta) you need to have an honest offer and that includes two of three of Faber Rossi or Zeev 

Stars got Rantenan for 2 firsts, 1 second(Logan Stankoven) and 2 thirds.   Nobody crucial.    This is why I wanted BG to hold onto his picks this year and be a seller.  Pooling a bunch of picks and a low level active player can get you what you want.  Dallas didn't hurt their lineup even a little for this year.  Stars have positioned themselves well for the next few years.  Giving away a pick here and a pick there like BG has been doing for mediocre players makes it next to impossible to pool a bunch of them and get that top tier player like you mentioned.   We have to give up a Faber because we don't have the picks to complete the trade.  

IMO:  The Wild have two major issues and both are the fault of BG.  1) We are not properly developing players in IA.  We are reliant on outside programs to provide us our rookie value.  2)  BG is using our picks in trades for low level players rather than pooling them for high level ones.  I'm not a BG hater.  I think he has done some good things for the Wild.  I don't want him gone.  But those 2 items I feel are fair criticism.  The next 2 seasons will be critical for him.

[MacGyver]

20 hours ago, Patrick said:

Dumba has not played even one minute. Healthy scratch every game. 

True but he will wear that ring right along with Rantanen if they get it. He will join at least several other players who have left the Wild to find themselves getting sized for a ring. 

[OldDutchChip]

43 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Stars got Rantenan for 2 firsts, 1 second(Logan Stankoven) and 2 thirds.   Nobody crucial.    This is why I wanted BG to hold onto his picks this year and be a seller.  Pooling a bunch of picks and a low level active player can get you what you want.  Dallas didn't hurt their lineup even a little for this year.  Stars have positioned themselves well for the next few years.  Giving away a pick here and a pick there like BG has been doing for mediocre players makes it next to impossible to pool a bunch of them and get that top tier player like you mentioned.   We have to give up a Faber because we don't have the picks to complete the trade.  

IMO:  The Wild have two major issues and both are the fault of BG.  1) We are not properly developing players in IA.  We are reliant on outside programs to provide us our rookie value.  2)  BG is using our picks in trades for low level players rather than pooling them for high level ones.  I'm not a BG hater.  I think he has done some good things for the Wild.  I don't want him gone.  But those 2 items I feel are fair criticism.  The next 2 seasons will be critical for him.

BG is using our picks in trades for low level players rather than pooling them for high level ones.  YES SO TRUE - not really good stategy/planning by bill

would you do Zeev+Rossi+Pick(s) for Pasta?

would you do Faber+Rossi for Tkachuk?

would you do Zeev+Rossi+Pick(s) for Larkin?

I think yes for either of those for me. It moves our timeline to immediate contention. We can't keep building for future....been doing that for 30 years!

[Protec]

20 hours ago, WildNotMild said:

Nyquist isn’t big, isn’t mean and doesn’t have grit (the main “knocks” on Rossi), so WTF did Billy trade a 2nd round pick for him.  He also didn’t do anything in the playoffs, but wasn’t demoted.  AND, he definitely cost the Wild a game with his offsides.

Gaudreau isn’t big, isn’t mean and doesn’t have grit (the main “knocks” on Rossi).  He didn’t do anything in the playoffs, but wasn’t demoted.  
 

Rossi scored 2 goals and had an assist in less playing time than either Nyquist or Gaudreau.  The argument that the Wild’s third leading scorer was being accurately used on the 4th line to unlock the wingers’ potential on that line is ridiculous.  Saying that Rossi only scored two goals because of the passes from Trenin is ludicrous and completely negates the logic that Rossi would have benefited from more passes from higher skilled players if he played on a higher line and got more minutes.  Rossi and Gaudreau should have been switched, period.  I would have been fine if Hartman played 2nd line as long as Rossi played 3rd and Gaudreau 4th.
 

If Rossi is traded for a better player (28 or younger, similar points, bigger, meaner, etc.), then great.  If he is shipped out for a mid 30s player for around 7M per with clauses, it is a dumb move by Billy.  I don’t see how the Wild win a trade involving Rossi when Billy has clearly shown he doesn’t like him.  Like I have said before, having to include another 1-2 prospects that are penciled in for next year just creates more holes and problems.

Some folks have been saying forever if the Wild didn’t get to the 2nd round, Kaprizov wouldn’t sign an extension.  I don’t understand how these same folks can argue that playing Gaudreau more minutes and on a higher line than Rossi gave the Wild a better chance to win the series.

I agree with your first parts here on the basis of skill or ability but the Wild had nearly zero game-changing players out there. Boldy & Hartman which wasn't nearly enough. 

Rossi had zero NHL playoffs experience. Even though Fred and NoJo are non-factor guys, they were more qualified. 

Rossi is a nice young talent that could be useful to get guys now like FL did when they got Tarasenko, Okposo, Ekkmann-Larrsson and won a Cup. Older players who many on this board would complain about. 

And yet, Rossi never took control at any point in the Vegas series or showed any kind of dominant play. Rossi is a young top six guy but he's a small Euro. That's why he fell to 9th. MN should have selected Lundell who is a Koivu clone, Sturm was an economy-version. 

I believe Guerin and Brackett have gotten sloppy. They might have come in with hype and cleaning up after Fenton was good. Now they've had time to regress to the mean. The overall-department, cause GMBG has made a lot of good deals. 

The uncertainty and his goofball ideas like Laine, NoJo, Addison, and guys he's let go, only to replace them with sideways moves, I'm apprehensive to say this will be a great off-season. 

[WildNotMild]

1 minute ago, Protec said:

I agree with your first parts here on the basis of skill or ability but the Wild had nearly zero game-changing players out there. Boldy & Hartman which wasn't nearly enough. 

Rossi had zero NHL playoffs experience. Even though Fred and NoJo are non-factor guys, they were more qualified. 

Rossi is a nice young talent that could be useful to get guys now like FL did when they got Tarasenko, Okposo, Ekkmann-Larrsson and won a Cup. Older players who many on this board would complain about. 

And yet, Rossi never took control at any point in the Vegas series or showed any kind of dominant play. Rossi is a young top six guy but he's a small Euro. That's why he fell to 9th. MN should have selected Lundell who is a Koivu clone, Sturm was an economy-version. 

I believe Guerin and Brackett have gotten sloppy. They might have come in with hype and cleaning up after Fenton was good. Now they've had time to regress to the mean. The overall-department, cause GMBG has made a lot of good deals. 

The uncertainty and his goofball ideas like Laine, NoJo, Addison, and guys he's let go, only to replace them with sideways moves, I'm apprehensive to say this will be a great off-season. 

I agree that my expectations for Billy aren’t that high.  If you want big, gritty, physical players fine, then get rid of Rossi.  I can understand that.  BUT, I don’t understand the signing of NoJo, trading for Nyquist, the drafting of Rossi and Knut.

And, the Wild need to get younger.  They have a tendency to not trust, develop and play the younger guys.  Doing so would help with the cap year over year.  The better constructed teams have core pieces that they reward (pay) and then fill in around with young guys, free agents wanting to win (willing to sign for a little less) and TDL pick ups to make a deep run.  Due to taxes and being stuck in mediocrity, free agents with long term upside aren’t looking to come to Minnesota.  Instead, we get in state guys looking towards retirement and one more big pay day willing to sign.

Billy’s insistence to pay middle to over aged vets to too much term, too much money and add clauses will keep the Wild in mediocrity.  Lots of rumors tying both the other Brocks to the Wild this offseason.  Nelson for anything over 3 years and more than 5.5M per year is another wrong type of signing.  Boeser would be another bipolar signing in that he doesn’t play defense, isn’t gritty and isn’t mean.  Signing him to a long term deal for close to 9M would be stupid.  
 

Nevertheless, my predictions are Nelson for 7.5M and Boeser for 9M with some clauses as Billy talks about fair deals, cost of doing business and guys like them have earned it.

I would love a BT or Larkin big trade, but what in Billy’s history makes anyone think he can pull a trade like this off and if he does, that the Wild don’t get majorly fleeced.  Look no further than the Boston trade this year with a 2 for 1 deal where the Wild included a pick.

[Will D. Ness]

16 minutes ago, Protec said:

Rossi never took control at any point in the Vegas series or showed any kind of dominant play.

Agree.  He wasn't engaged.  I didn't see any desire to win or fight.  He seemed too casual.  Yeah he scored two goals but he was the beneficiary of someone fighting (Trenin).

[MNCountryLife]

36 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

would you do Zeev+Rossi+Pick(s) for Pasta?

would you do Faber+Rossi for Tkachuk?

would you do Zeev+Rossi+Pick(s) for Larkin?

I think yes for either of those for me. It moves our timeline to immediate contention. We can't keep building for future....been doing that for 30 years!

Yes, would be hard to say no to those trades.  But it hurts... Building a team is done best when you eliminate the bad and add good.  Losing good players to get better players does not move the needle nearly as far as a Bad for Good.

[OldDutchChip]

13 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Agree.  He wasn't engaged.  I didn't see any desire to win or fight.  He seemed too casual.  Yeah he scored two goals but he was the beneficiary of someone fighting (Trenin).

shhhhh ..... expect pitchforks soon - you dared to downplay Rossi's impact! 😜

 

[OldDutchChip]

10 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Yes, would be hard to say no to those trades.  But it hurts... Building a team is done best when you eliminate the bad and add good.  Losing good players to get better players does not move the needle nearly as far as a Bad for Good.

yes, but we've seen what an impact a great player can make if paired with another. pasta is top tier player, if you pair kap with pasta that is going to be scary for any team to match and would bring us into central contention immediately. skill wins. 

Edited May 15 by OldDutchChip

[PNW Wild]

BPA is the correct move. If there is a player that doesn't fit what you need, you then have the ammo to trade and get what you need. If you have a ton of stud defensemen and the BPA at the draft is easily a Dman, you draft him. Then you can use one of those defensemen to go get your goalie, or winger, or center. 

The problem is that part of the equation for BPA is positional value. Center, as Wild fans know full well, is more valuable than a winger. Just think of what a competent 3rd line center gets at the trade deadline. 

I like Rossi and think that he can fit on this team and help it. The question is what is he looking for in term and AAV, and how he fits this team going forward. I think his ceiling is a Brayden Point type center, and that is a very valuable asset that you can win with. But, it all comes down to what he is asking and if the team can trust him on the ice. 

Personally it miffs me how quickly what it takes to win the SC changes every year. You simply have to be a better hockey team than everyone you play. Size can be a help, but so can skill, speed, hockey IQ, etc. Just put the best team you can on the ice. 

[Will D. Ness]

1 hour ago, OldDutchChip said:

shhhhh ..... expect pitchforks soon - you dared to downplay Rossi's impact! 😜

 

It was pretty transparent really, people are just dying on their own hills.  Losing that series to Vegas sucked.  I get it.  

I think a trade might be a win-win.  Rossi is a good player, but kind of a late bloomer.  He needs to grow up a little and maybe some greener grass will do the trick.  I think he has the chops to be a 2C if he can ever get his head right.

Also, I don't think his agent did the math.  Rossi is an RFA.  His fair value isn't much higher than 5x5.  His agent might have been the guy who burnt bridges negotiating so aggressively.  

[OldDutchChip]

2 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

It was pretty transparent really, people are just dying on their own hills.  Losing that series to Vegas sucked.  I get it.  

I think a trade might be a win-win.  Rossi is a good player, but kind of a late bloomer.  He needs to grow up a little and maybe some greener grass will do the trick.  I think he has the chops to be a 2C if he can ever get his head right.

Also, I don't think his agent did the math.  Rossi is an RFA.  His fair value isn't much higher than 5x5.  His agent might have been the guy who burnt bridges negotiating so aggressively.  

Right on

[raithis]

4 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

Stars got Rantenan for 2 firsts, 1 second(Logan Stankoven) and 2 thirds.   Nobody crucial.    This is why I wanted BG to hold onto his picks this year and be a seller.  Pooling a bunch of picks and a low level active player can get you what you want.  Dallas didn't hurt their lineup even a little for this year.  Stars have positioned themselves well for the next few years. 

You seem to forget the following:

1.  Rantanen wanted to go to Dallas and was willing to sign an extension there.

2.  Carolina had to trade him or they risked losing him for nothing.

3.  Pooling a bunch of picks and a low level player will not usually get you a elite goal scorer.  This was a different situation because of #1 and #2.  The exceptions to this are teams in rebuilds.  Those are the teams we should be looking at when/if trading for better players.

4.  Dallas didn't hurt their team because they have far more depth than we do.  Dallas had 8 20-goal scorers last year.  And we had how many?  3.  They can afford to roll the dice on how well a new player will fit in.  We still need to fill out our team more or we could quickly turn into a team like Nashville with the wrong moves.

5.  Let's say we traded a player and picks to pick up Rantanen.  I doubt he signs an extension right away knowing that the team has a lot of injuries and might not even make the playoffs.  He'd also be aware that Kaprizov's contract would be up the following season and he might not have another elite forward on the team in a year.  In order to stay under the cap, we would have had to keep Kaprizov on LTIR until the end of the season.  It took the entire team being back just to make the playoffs.  If Rantanen steps in an plays like he did at Carolina, we don't even make the playoffs and Rantanen probably elects to go to free agency.  It also probably irritates Kaprizov because we are holding him out even after he is healthy.

I understand people's desire to win now while Kaprizov is in his prime, but we also need the depth to do the same as all these other teams that people keep bringing up.  We need the depth and we need the prospects to be part of that or any push to win now closes your window real fast if you can't go the distance immediately - and there's a high likelihood that you won't with a team that doesn't have the depth.  You are then maybe one injury away from maybe losing your chance.  Teams that win the cup can persevere losing a player for a bit.  We wouldn't be able to overcome it if we sacrifice the little we have right now by giving up too much.

Rantanen was not realistic.  But we can look at other players that might be.  Would Rossi, Heidt, and a couple high picks be of interest to Detroit for Larkin?  Maybe they like what they are seeing out of Stramel in their own backyard?  It'd be interesting to find out how unhappy Larkin is with the organization.

 

[MNCountryLife]

7 minutes ago, raithis said:

We need the depth and we need the prospects to be part of that or any push to win now closes your window real fast if you can't go the distance immediately

Which was one of my complaints about BG.  IA Wild are not developing players like we need them.

[Mateo3xm]

23 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

yes, but we've seen what an impact a great player can make if paired with another. pasta is top tier player, if you pair kap with pasta that is going to be scary for any team to match and would bring us into central contention immediately. skill wins. 

The fact that you think they’re trading Pasta is hilarious. You seem to think like a kid and that these trades could be easily done. I don’t think you put much thought into anything you say, it just comes dribbling out.

[OldDutchChip]

7 minutes ago, Mateo3xm said:

The fact that you think they’re trading Pasta is hilarious. You seem to think like a kid and that these trades could be easily done. I don’t think you put much thought into anything you say, it just comes dribbling out.

You sound like an old fart whose hemorrhoids are giving him a nasty reminder, go put some ointment on and cheer up - it’s Friday

as for Pasta - B’s are in rebuild phase, and may want to strip down the club, get it? A GM can inquire - what’s the harm?

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

On 5/14/2025 at 1:02 PM, MNCountryLife said:

$7M just seems high to me.  I would think a team could sign a player equal or better than rossi at $7M.  Is Rossi seriously in our top 3 for forwards on the Wild?

Matt Coronado just got 6.5M for less points. Raymond, who had only 12 points more signed for 8.075M last year. 

I don't think we will find the same upside, youth, durability and scoring out of 7M. We will end up with Nelson or another 30 something retiree for that price

[MNCountryLife]

1 hour ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Matt Coronado just got 6.5M for less points. Raymond, who had only 12 points more signed for 8.075M last year. 

I don't think we will find the same upside, youth, durability and scoring out of 7M. We will end up with Nelson or another 30 something retiree for that price

Wow.  Clearly the Cap is affecting new contracts more than I thought it would.  

[raithis]

23 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

Which was one of my complaints about BG.  IA Wild are not developing players like we need them.

To be fair, Fletcher didn't leave much in the way of prospects to work with prior to Fenton, but yeah, I agree a couple more players that were drafted 2 years ago or more should be knocking a little harder on the door than they are at this point. 

I'd really like to see Lambos make a case for himself in training camp/preseason. 

I've also been fairly high on Bankier and would like to see him make a push too.

If no one from the 2024-25 IA team besides Wallstedt shows they are able to challenge for a roster spot this next season, I think IA coaching all the way up to Bombardir need to really be put on notice.

[raithis]

1 hour ago, MNCountryLife said:

Wow.  Clearly the Cap is affecting new contracts more than I thought it would.  

Yeah, it wouldn't shock me to see someone like Ehlers get $9-10M.  There aren't many strong free agents around, and, as a result of the cap shift, it could easily turn into a bidding war for the better ones.

He'll probably be more around $8M, but it definitely wouldn't surprise me if it were higher.

People have gotten used to salaries for player like x to be y, but it's going to jump a lot in the next few years for players who are above average.