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.

[mnfaninnc]

Unless we're trading out a defenseman, I'd say we have a pretty good stable of defenders. Why would we need an upgrade? Perhaps nobody has much faith in Spacek? After another year in the A, I think Spacek can definitely come in as a 3rd pairing option. 

Now, if we're trading out Spurgy, that might make a hole in this, but still Faber, Jiricek, Bogosian is serviceable for next season. Everyone also seems to be sleeping on Lambos. I think he's ready with a bit more strength. 

[mnfaninnc]

On 5/30/2025 at 12:17 PM, 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.

I disagree with this position. I don't think 6 years is a lot of time for a GM, especially one who takes over an aging team and has to redo the roster. Let's remember where we were at: Fenton had just sold off our younger core of players and we were stuck with a broken team, Spurgeon needing an extension, Kaprizov not signed, and an aging roster. He had to disassemble the current roster, build a cupboard of prospects all while staying "competitive." He also had to rebuild, completely, the morale of the whole organization. 

All of this takes time, and 6 years is barely enough time to get the incoming prospects ready, and that's just the 1st year. I think his grades are out still on an incomplete. 

What he has been able to accomplish is put together a stable of prospects, stay "competitive," change the locker room culture, and start to bring in 1st round picks. He also retooled all of the veterans. As with any GM, he's had hits and misses. One thing he hasn't done is trade away a bunch of draft picks for TDL veterans to try and get us further. Not having cap space will tend to do that to you out of necessity. He has also hidden away his prospects so they can develop. I think everyone here has grown impatient with that and want to see the shiny new toys. 

With 4/5 years making the playoffs which is the very definition of "competitive" which is all we were promised, he bought himself time for the young guys to develop. I have not been impressed with the strength coaching and feel that has been a real fail. Knowing the timing of when to convert the kids to the N is an art. I think we needed to go a little quicker in that direction. To me, he seems a little scared to put a bunch of them on the roster at once. I also have not liked Judd's picks as I find his prospects undersized and not built for playoff competition.

But, in the natural progression of things, we should be seeing the team he has had in the garage under construction. I'd suggest that judgment is not going to be made until around year 10, in which time we should be a Stanley Cup contender. At this point, we should be both buyer and seller. We've got some pieces that can play an NHL role, but too many that should be grouped in the bottom 6, it's more like the bottom 9 and top 3. We've got to get a 2nd scoring line next season that can be consistent. And we definitely NEED to take advantage of value with the ELC contracts. 

Guerin's term hasn't been all rosy, he was dealt a challenging hand. To say he has been absolutely stellar is an overstatement, but to say he's been trash is well understated. I believe he's been more good than bad and we should see what he's built before trying to run him out of town. 

On a separate note, I did not realize the amount of coaches and GMs that had gotten fired this season. It sure would be nice if we could pick up some more off ice talent to help build this thing, maybe a guy who can make complex trades, a cap masseuse, a new head coach in Iowa who knows what he's doing, and a defensive coach down there who can actually coach up our defensive prospects. I think we should be aggressive in picking those guys up.