Article: The Wild Shouldn't Offload Rossi To Clear A 2026 Cap Logjam

[ArizonaWildFan]

15 hours ago, Enforceror said:

It's a balance.

Correct all day long!

What I read in a lot of these posts is what that balance should be with the Wild going forward. I also read stats vs eye test. There is also a lot of pie-in-the-sky fantasy crap, hypotheticals, and apple-to-apple and apples-to- flip flops comparisons.

A balanced lineup includes a blend of speed, skill, size and experience (measurable metrics) along with determination, physicality, hockey IQ, personality, work ethic (non-measurable metrics).

Many posts here point out how the Wild got out to a 2-1 series lead against VGK; physical play. Hard to argue that, but why did the Wild lose games 4, 5 and 6? Because physical play is hard to sustain. Many posters here seemingly would be happy with a top line of KK, Ek and Boldy and then fill out the bottom nine with Trenin's, Brazeau's, Foligno's and Hartman's.

In theory, it could work, occasionally, but good opposing coaches would figure out how to neutralize the top line and wear down the bottom nine and beat them with speed and skill.

Being this is a Rossi story, let's include him in this post. The Rossi haters love to use 9 in 22 down the stretch. Let's use a hypothetical here. Rossi was 9 in 21 when both KK and Ek were out with injuries (.41 ppg) and was 51 in 61 (.84 ppg) in the rest of the games when one or both KK and Ek were in the lineup. What would Rossi's season totals have been if there wouldn't have been a 21 game stretch without KK and Ek? Stats would say that he would have ended the regular season with 26G/42A and 68 points in 82 games. Not bad for a 23 year old on an ELC.

Rossi has been and should be going forward, part of the correct balance the Wild need. Here's my pie-in-the-sky moment: imagine how much better Rossi could have been in his time with the Wild with a supportive and developmentally focused front office and coaching staff. I guess we'll have to wait and see how good he can be with his new team starting next season.

 

 

[mnfaninnc]

12 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

None of us have any real evidence on anything - but a team athlete knows when others slack or tune out. The team know, the captains know and management knows. Not one player checked out but Rossi. Even Nyquist tried! Yes he failed, but that’s another topic

I know teams and kaptains know, but without any actual evidence, do we really know what went on? Teams and kaptains also know when the team's 3rd leading scorer is demoted to the 4th line, and while they played limited minutes, I thought they performed better than the next line up, Gaudreau's line. I thought they deserved a few more minutes than they got. 

On the Rossi topic, I still believe that he was hampered by the puck to the knee and it reduced his speed. He'll probably never use it as an excuse as he gutted his way through it. From the play, though, what I saw was Rossi was very conservative and typically hung out in the offensive zone about 5 ft. higher than normal knowing the big guys were doing the dirty work. Yet he also knew he was responsible for getting back because they didn't have the speed to get back. I didn't think he played checked out, but I do think he wasn't playing like his normal self. 

[mnfaninnc]

12 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

i bold the response for clarity purposes and hopefully it is helpful to the original poster,

This was helpful to me even though I wasn't the original poster. I just try to break down the quotes in pieces to do the same thing. I feel the color block works better.

[mnfaninnc]

14 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

not necessarily - what if Billy has a deal for a better fit and just needs room.

Offloading Rossi should only be done if it makes the team better. Anything else is unnecessary. Giving him away does not make the team better, because his cap hit would be negligible compared to someone like Spurgeon. 

If 5 x $5m was offered at the end of this season, I could see that being too long of term. I'm thinking a bridge in the neighborhood of 2x$4.5m is appropriate, breakdown would be $4m 2025, $5m 2026. This would mean the next qualifying offer would be $5.5m in 2027, which I believe would be his last. But, I wouldn't rush to sign this, I would qualify him and allow him out of respect for the player to look for an RFA offersheet, see where it fits, the term, the compensation from who, and make my decision then. It worked great for Aho and the Canes and made Waddell's some easy peasy as he went on a nice vacation after that.

[OldDutchChip]

25 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Offloading Rossi should only be done if it makes the team better. Anything else is unnecessary. Giving him away does not make the team better, because his cap hit would be negligible compared to someone like Spurgeon. 

If 5 x $5m was offered at the end of this season, I could see that being too long of term. I'm thinking a bridge in the neighborhood of 2x$4.5m is appropriate, breakdown would be $4m 2025, $5m 2026. This would mean the next qualifying offer would be $5.5m in 2027, which I believe would be his last. But, I wouldn't rush to sign this, I would qualify him and allow him out of respect for the player to look for an RFA offersheet, see where it fits, the term, the compensation from who, and make my decision then. It worked great for Aho and the Canes and made Waddell's some easy peasy as he went on a nice vacation after that.

I just meant as a way to rid of salary spot (Rossi ~ 7-9 MM save) and using it for another “under-the-radar” signing 

Many options other than just throw money at Nelson 

 

[mnfaninnc]

3 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

I just meant as a way to rid of salary spot (Rossi ~ 7-9 MM save) and using it for another “under-the-radar” signing 

Many options other than just throw money at Nelson

The situation is very sticky for Rossi. He has no arbitration rights, only an offersheet for leverage. Any offersheet <$7.1m with a bunch of term isn't going to get him out of here. If it comes in at 7 x $6.5m, I think the Wild match, and it will be a tremendous bargain. I think both parties benefit from a 2 x $4.5m deal, as Rossi still has much to prove outside of his points. 

[OldDutchChip]

10 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

The situation is very sticky for Rossi. He has no arbitration rights, only an offersheet for leverage. Any offersheet <$7.1m with a bunch of term isn't going to get him out of here. If it comes in at 7 x $6.5m, I think the Wild match, and it will be a tremendous bargain. I think both parties benefit from a 2 x $4.5m deal, as Rossi still has much to prove outside of his points. 

Yes I agree a short term bridge can work for both

but ship has sailed

rossi will be gone

[Will D. Ness]

26 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Any offersheet <$7.1m with a bunch of term isn't going to get him out of here. If it comes in at 7 x $6.5m, I think the Wild match, and it will be a tremendous bargain.

This is basically the crux of it, and why it is so perplexing to me that Rossi held out.

He probably could have signed at the beginning of the year for 6M.  Instead he went through all of this negative shit and got thrown on the trade block and potentially derailed his entire career before it really started... all for a marginal gain.

What was his agent thinking?  It's not like Marco was this undeveloped singular talent.  He was/is a blue collar player.  It makes no sense.

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

but ship has sailed

I don't know that it has. A trade, at this point, has to be started by Guerin, or at least listened to by Guerin. I think they worked things out in their end of year meeting, and, simply put, Rossi has got to get stronger. He needs another big offseason. Maybe hanging with Ek and OgZ would help him. He can't keep getting knocked down. Strength with his leverage should get him above average in this department.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Will D. Ness said:

He probably could have signed at the beginning of the year for 6M.

Honestly, I don't think that offer was there, then. But I do think he could have signed for $5.5m in January. I don't think the offer would have been more than what Ek was making. It probably would have been a 5 year deal. 

[OldDutchChip]

14 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I don't know that it has. A trade, at this point, has to be started by Guerin, or at least listened to by Guerin. I think they worked things out in their end of year meeting, and, simply put, Rossi has got to get stronger. He needs another big offseason. Maybe hanging with Ek and OgZ would help him. He can't keep getting knocked down. Strength with his leverage should get him above average in this department.

We shall see

my predictions -

Kap does not sign

Rossi is traded

[mnfaninnc]

15 hours ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

One day your boss tells you that you are being demoted because your numbers are down recently. You explain that your numbers are down because you've been covering for another guy while he's out with an injury and you're not getting any help. Doesn't matter, your boss's boss, the big guy, decided that's the way it's going to be so buck up.

You know what this sounds similar to? Talbot for Game 1 in the St. Louis series. 

[mnfaninnc]

1 minute ago, OldDutchChip said:

We shall see

my predictions -

Kap does not sign

Rossi is traded

I hope your gut is wrong here and you just had spicy Mexican last night causing the discomfort! 😎

[Patrick]

22 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Koivu averaged 50-60 points on shitty or kinda good teams for a decade and Ek trades Koivu's offensive production for being pissed off defensively all the time.  The main issue is he has durability concerns.

Rossi may have better offensive instincts, but saying he's better or going to be better than Ek and Koivu is a stretch.  Also, Granlund put up 70 points once.

Rossi offers a good balance that favors "good enough" defensive awareness with sneaky good offensive instincts you can't teach.  But I don't know if that is what Guerin wants in players: hence the endless impasse.

I love both Koivu and Ek! I also don't think Rossi will be their equal. (I could be wrong)  But at this point in their careers Rossi is the better player.  Also, you are underselling Rossi's defense.  He is in the top 25% defensively.

[Patrick]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

The situation is very sticky for Rossi. He has no arbitration rights, only an offersheet for leverage. Any offersheet <$7.1m with a bunch of term isn't going to get him out of here. If it comes in at 7 x $6.5m, I think the Wild match, and it will be a tremendous bargain. I think both parties benefit from a 2 x $4.5m deal, as Rossi still has much to prove outside of his points. 

How does Rossi have much to prove? 

I do agree with your assessment outside of the bridge number.  That is stupid low. 

[Scalptrash]

22 hours ago, Enforceror said:

I think he should sign ME!

6'3 210, 40 years old. Can't skate well but have years of grappling and kickboxing experience.

I'll stand in front of the net for 1mil. Team friendly deal. 

Enh?

No worse than Brazz or Trenin. Maybe even better than Jojo!

[Scalptrash]

On 5/19/2025 at 11:19 AM, MNCountryLife said:

I would sure like to see BG hold on to some of that cash so the TDL can be fun.

Impossible. He acts like a drunken sailor on shore leave with the team's money. Even picks aren't safe anymore.

[Scalptrash]

21 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

But what I don't get is Judd constantly drafting undersized guys especially on defense when it is not the vision of Guerin. Where is the disconnect? Why isn't the draft board constructed to Guerin's vision? Why are we drafting players that appear to have "soft skill?" I simply don't understand this.

It's simple. Judd is following Billy's directive, draft the best available player. Billy doesn't see young potential, and obviously doesn't want to develop it in Iowa, he sees trade capital. He can trade those higher ranked players from the draft for what he really wants. Old, slow, no skill veterans. 

[Scalptrash]

21 hours ago, MacGyver said:

I think Billy low balled him with intent to insult.

He low balled him because he doesn't recognize talent or feels that it is less important. He can't manage the team finances either, but that's been known since almost day one.

He would rather overpay Nelson than get Rossi for a deal. Rossi will outperform Nelson in every statistical category except faceoffs from this point forward. For half the price and a much longer future, no matter what teams they end up on.

[ArizonaWildFan]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

You know what this sounds similar to? Talbot for Game 1 in the St. Louis series. 

I absolutely love Fleury, one of the GOATs. The last 23 games of the 2021-2022 season Talbot went 10-3 and Flower was 8-2 in a somewhat alternating rotation. Guerin went with Flower in game 1 at home against the Blues and lost 4-0. Fleury started games 2 and 3 and won both. He also started games 4 and 5 and lost both. Finally in game 6, with the Wild down 3-2 in the series, Talbot got the nod.

Hockey players are human and have emotions. Talbot had a heck of a season before Fleury signed and the tandem had a great stretch run. What was Cam's reward? Play the Billy guy and crap on one of the horses that got you there. Billy already had his plan in mind for the following season and it was going to be Fleury and not Talbot.

Very similar to the Rossi situation this postseason and the same results, up 2-1 in a series and lose three straight to get eliminated. As was the case both now and then, a valid argument could be made that Guerin sacrificed an opportunity to win a playoff series in favor of unjustly shaming and humiliating a player he didn't want to have on his team in the future.

Maybe someday soon ownership and some of the Guerin worshipers will see the real problem in the organization and understand why the team can't get past the first round in the playoffs. It wasn't Talbot then or Rossi now.

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, Patrick said:

How does Rossi have much to prove? 

Rossi had a 60 point season which was a nice improvement over last season. I thought he played with more confidence, especially in the first 60 games of the season. However, those last 22 when he was needed the most he disappeared. Not only was he not getting points, but he was also getting knocked down a lot. 

I realize that most top 6 players run hot and cold, but when you have to carry the team, you cannot have that be your cold streak. We are strictly talking Rossi here, and I realize that this also happened to Boldy. 

There was a streak where he started winning faceoffs late in the year, but it just wasn't enough. It was his turn to be the star, and he just didn't have it. But, he is young, and he can still be that guy. 

To me, seeing that, I'm not ready to cough up 7 x $7m for him. Now, I thought his line in the playoffs deserved more minutes, and I thought they were better than the Gaudreau line. Yet, there are still more rungs on the ladder for him to climb up. He's a hard worker so I do have confidence he can get there, but he needs another big offseason of strength training to do it.

[Up North Guy]

23 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I've been out of the loop for awhile, when was the 5 x $5m deal offered, at the end of the year, middle of the year, beginning of the year?

I believe the 5X5 offer was in early December

[Scalptrash]

15 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Rossi had a 60 point season which was a nice improvement over last season. I thought he played with more confidence, especially in the first 60 games of the season. However, those last 22 when he was needed the most he disappeared. Not only was he not getting points, but he was also getting knocked down a lot. 

I realize that most top 6 players run hot and cold, but when you have to carry the team, you cannot have that be your cold streak. We are strictly talking Rossi here, and I realize that this also happened to Boldy. 

There was a streak where he started winning faceoffs late in the year, but it just wasn't enough. It was his turn to be the star, and he just didn't have it. But, he is young, and he can still be that guy. 

To me, seeing that, I'm not ready to cough up 7 x $7m for him. Now, I thought his line in the playoffs deserved more minutes, and I thought they were better than the Gaudreau line. Yet, there are still more rungs on the ladder for him to climb up. He's a hard worker so I do have confidence he can get there, but he needs another big offseason of strength training to do it.

So you were expecting a sophomore to carry the team, by himself, down the stretch? I seriously can't figure out why some people expect Rossi to be Kaprizov in only his second year. Again, what else can this guy do? Seriously. He is literally one of the best players the Wild have ever drafted and developed, but it's still not enough for some people. I actually look forward to the games when he lights up the Wild and wipes that smug smirk off of Billy's face. It's going to be one of the main reasons Billy eventually gets fired.

[Patrick]

16 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Rossi had a 60 point season which was a nice improvement over last season. I thought he played with more confidence, especially in the first 60 games of the season. However, those last 22 when he was needed the most he disappeared. Not only was he not getting points, but he was also getting knocked down a lot. 

I realize that most top 6 players run hot and cold, but when you have to carry the team, you cannot have that be your cold streak. We are strictly talking Rossi here, and I realize that this also happened to Boldy. 

There was a streak where he started winning faceoffs late in the year, but it just wasn't enough. It was his turn to be the star, and he just didn't have it. But, he is young, and he can still be that guy. 

To me, seeing that, I'm not ready to cough up 7 x $7m for him. Now, I thought his line in the playoffs deserved more minutes, and I thought they were better than the Gaudreau line. Yet, there are still more rungs on the ladder for him to climb up. He's a hard worker so I do have confidence he can get there, but he needs another big offseason of strength training to do it.

1) You realize every player in the NHL except the superstars go through slumps don't you?  Especially when their more talented linemates are injured.

2) 7x7 is very middle of the road for a 2nd line center in todays NHL.  Crazy to think but its absolutely true.

3) In the 22 games prior to KK returning.  Rossi had 11 points.  Hardly disappeared. Importantly,  Rossi, Boldy and Foligno were playing like one of the top lines in the NHL at that time.  Without Rossi the Wild don't make the playoffs. That's a fact.

The objective stats don't support anything you are saying.  Subjectively you can say he got knocked down a lot...but what does that mean?  If you are looking for something you will see it. 

Yeah, he isn't a star... yet, and he may never be a star but at this point in his career he is already a solid 2nd line center and he is only 23.  The year BG signed Boldy to his big contract Boldy had 63 points.  Nearly identical to Rossi this year. 

Go read some Rossi trade proposals from other teams perspectives and you will get a fresh appreciation for him.  BG and Russo have decided they don't like him for some reason.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Scalptrash said:

So you were expecting a sophomore to carry the team, by himself, down the stretch?

The opportunity presented itself for both Rossi and Boldy, and to some extent Faber. Were these guys ready to carry the load? I would conclude that they were not. At least not yet. Yes, I expected it. It wasn't just the last 22 games either. I saw some multipoint games against lower competition and nothing against the higher teams. 

I appreciate Rossi gutting it out, he could have taken a few games off to try and heal up his knee, but he played through it. That also has to be put into the equation. Was he at 80%? I'd suggest more like 60%. 

The point is that you never know when your number is called to lead the team, and his number was called. He was not yet ready for the challenge.