Article: The Wild's Best Use Of Marco Rossi Might Be A D-Corps Upgrade

[Justin Hein]

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[ArizonaWildFan]

Crickets??? Sorry, Justin.

[1Brotherbill]

The only reason they need to think about getting a defenseman for Rossi if they bring in a Norse Trophy level player.  They are not going to get that for Rossi.  Though there is some crazy buzz happening around Rossi.  That I don't understand.  Just RFA him and pay the draft picks.  A 1st and a 3rd for any offer less than 7 million a year.  If you think about it Rossi will be the best player in the 2026 draft if you offer him an RFA deal and you get him a year early.  It appears teams are talking about giving comperable players and possibly other players or picks for Rossi.  I don't understand that. 

[Patrick]

If Hynes doesn't trust Rossi the optimal solution is to replace Hynes. Putting a young player lower in the lineup AFTER they struggle is normal. But Hynes never gave Rossi a chance. Maybe the weirdest coaching decision I've ever seen in 30 years of watching professional sports.

[Sam]

[Thomas]

I don't know where to look it* up, but each of Zuccarello's points this season cost $64.278 (4,125M a season is 50.305 over 82 games.
He played 69, so 3.471M across 54 points

*At $3.5M, who can replace his 54 points as well as experience and leadership?
Put another way, who else costs $64.278 a point

[hydguy75]

Let me try to understand.... the Wild caved in the playoffs because offense was weak.  One of our rising star forwards is offending to our coaching/ management.  So let's trade for another defender?  So then we have to allocate limited cap space to pay for another defender and our GF next season still remains shaky?  This move does nothing except push out any chance at a cup by 1-2 more years.  

[Justin Hein]

2 hours ago, hydguy75 said:

Let me try to understand.... the Wild caved in the playoffs because offense was weak.  One of our rising star forwards is offending to our coaching/ management.  So let's trade for another defender?  So then we have to allocate limited cap space to pay for another defender and our GF next season still remains shaky?  This move does nothing except push out any chance at a cup by 1-2 more years.  

I'm operating off the assumption they've decided to trade Rossi. If you add Brodin, Spurgeon, or Middleton into the deal you can bring back more than just Byram or K. Miller. 

Good points about the offense -- I agree trading Rossi doesn't address the problem, it just moves his points out for somebody else's. 

[Justin Hein]

6 hours ago, Thomas said:

I don't know where to look it* up, but each of Zuccarello's points this season cost $64.278 (4,125M a season is 50.305 over 82 games.
He played 69, so 3.471M across 54 points

*At $3.5M, who can replace his 54 points as well as experience and leadership?
Put another way, who else costs $64.278 a point

This is why it'll be so difficult to replace Zuccarello -- that many points usually cost a lot more than Zucc does now. It's a huge reason that the 2026-27 salary cap is a major concern for me, unless the team just takes a step back and doesn't replace Zuccarello. 

[Justin Hein]

11 hours ago, Patrick said:

If Hynes doesn't trust Rossi the optimal solution is to replace Hynes. Putting a young player lower in the lineup AFTER they struggle is normal. But Hynes never gave Rossi a chance. Maybe the weirdest coaching decision I've ever seen in 30 years of watching professional sports.

I really like Hynes for nearly every other decision he's made -- he's proven me wrong on most of the times I question him. 

The Rossi playoff usage is not fireable on it's own but if he hadn't been doing such a good job elsewhere, I'd find it enough to call for his head. 

[Justin Hein]

12 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

The only reason they need to think about getting a defenseman for Rossi if they bring in a Norse Trophy level player.  They are not going to get that for Rossi.  Though there is some crazy buzz happening around Rossi.  That I don't understand.  Just RFA him and pay the draft picks.  A 1st and a 3rd for any offer less than 7 million a year.  If you think about it Rossi will be the best player in the 2026 draft if you offer him an RFA deal and you get him a year early.  It appears teams are talking about giving comperable players and possibly other players or picks for Rossi.  I don't understand that. 

I don't think that you need to bring in a Norris trophy player. Bringing in a major upgrade for the third pair would have a massive puck-moving impact, which could drive scoring indirectly. With two really good RFA defensemen potentially on the market, I think it could be a reasonable alternative to shipping Rossi out for another forward. 

[Pewterschmidt]

1 minute ago, Justin Hein said:

I don't think that you need to bring in a Norris trophy player. Bringing in a major upgrade for the third pair would have a massive puck-moving impact, which could drive scoring indirectly. With two really good RFA defensemen potentially on the market, I think it could be a reasonable alternative to shipping Rossi out for another forward. 

For the love of god when is it fair to expect ONE of our defense man prospects to play their way into the lineup?

[Pewterschmidt]

Just now, Pewterschmidt said:

For the love of god when is it fair to expect ONE of our defense man prospects to play their way into the lineup?

This team needs at least two top six forwards this offseason.  Spending any more capital on a defenseman is a dereliction of duty

[Justin Hein]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

For the love of god when is it fair to expect ONE of our defense man prospects to play their way into the lineup?

This is a good point, which is why I leave it open to adding one of Spurgeon/Brodin/Middleton to bring back a forward. If Zeev and/or Jiricek look good in the offseason/in camp then they can make one of those guys more expendable. 

If not, then you can play one or both of them on the bottom pair during injuries, or save some minutes for the old guys. 

[Scalptrash]

Quote

They need a return that keeps their Cup window alive. 

I didn't realize they were in a cup window. 🤣

[ArizonaWildFan]

August 21, 2019, does that date nearly six years ago mean anything to anyone? That's the day the Wild's savior was anointed General Manager.

Six years is a long time to retain a GM in an organization that aspires to be a Cup contender, rather than just qualifying for the playoffs and not advancing beyond the first round. Owner Leipold appears to have given GMBG a very long leash, one that will certainly give him a seventh season.

What is Guerin going to do with his leash this year? Probably sign Kaprizov to a record setting contract (which I am fine with), probably not re-sign one of his teams top offensive producers (and get a first and third round pick in 2026 as compensation for Rossi), will probably sign an aging UFA center from outside the organization who is past his prime to a contract in the $4M - $7M AAV range with term and unfavorable movement clauses, and will probably sign one or two of the Wild's UFA's or RFA's (not named Rossi) to  "team friendly" contracts.

He will use up all of his salary cap space this summer and will not have any cash at the trade deadline in 2026 to use. If the Wild make the playoffs, they will basically be the same team that falters every year. 

The Wild organization and it's fans could have a lot to look forward to this offseason and the upcoming season. That hope is diminished by the fact that GMBG is still holding the reigns in one hand and his worn out, predictable, unsuccessful playbook in the other.

Sometime in late April or early to mid-May of 2026, OCL will pull the plug on Guerin and we will have lost the wonderful opportunities that we are facing now in 2025. And what Billy does between now and his inevitable firing will bury the Wild into an even deeper hole. 

[Sam]

1 hour ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

August 21, 2019, does that date nearly six years ago mean anything to anyone? That's the day the Wild's savior was anointed General Manager.

Kirill Kaprisov was anointed General Manager?

[raithis]

1 hour ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

He will use up all of his salary cap space this summer and will not have any cash at the trade deadline in 2026 to use. If the Wild make the playoffs, they will basically be the same team that falters every year. 

Most of what you say may well happen, though I don't think he will use up all his cap space.  With things so tight the past year, I think that will be fresh in his mind and he won't want to put himself in the same position and be forced into certain decisions because of it.  I think he leaves himself more options this year.