Article: Wild Prepared to Match Marco Rossi Offer Sheet

[bean5302]

27 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

It does seem to be a thing in the NHL.

When teams know the current team will match, it seems they are very unlikely to make the offer.  Since 1986, it's only happened 44 times, so barely more than 1 per season. Given the number of restricted free agents across the NHL each season, that number seems suspiciously low to not be a thing.

Other than that, I agree with the general sentiments of your comment.

Two things on this.

1. I'm sure an unsigned offer doesn't have to be reported. Just because the an outside team doesn't sign the player doesn't mean the offer wasn't used as leverage with the existing team. There's no reason for a player to push the issue and drag it out if they know the existing team will counter.

2. Not making "good" offers is tantamount to collusion. While it would serve ownership interests in artificially suppressing player salary, it would also allow your competitors a substantial market advantage. 31 teams all on board with allowing your competitors to get a sweet deal? That's a tough one. Expecting the outside team to make the "best" offer isn't going to be commonplace since the acquiring team has to give up 2 high round picks as part of the signing, and the existing team likely needs the player pretty badly if they didn't already execute a trade. Also, this would have made Rossi a huge steal in a trade deal to a team who has cap issues. Giving up a little something to secure a team friendly deal is a no brainer.

If there was obvious and widespread collusion to substantially suppress player salaries, I expect it would have been a higher priority to eliminate or substantially alter the RFA rules in previous CBA negotiations. Of course, we may see it happen in the future.

Edited July 3 by bean5302

[Imyourhuckleberry]

45 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

1. I'm sure an unsigned offer doesn't have to be reported. Just because the an outside team doesn't sign the player doesn't mean the offer wasn't used as leverage with the existing team. There's no reason for a player to push the issue and drag it out if they know the existing team will counter.

Certainly agents are going to talk to teams about what they would offer for their free agents, but it doesn't seem common that teams actually sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet when they know the current team has the cap space to keep that player and does not want to lose that player for just picks in return.

Clearly GMs are wary of the practice to some degree and aren't offer sheeting frequently, partially knowing that if they make use of it regularly, it could make them more of a target for the practice when they are a little up against the cap.

If they sign free agents to a reasonable deal, they have to know a current team who has cap space is going to match, or even possibly trading out another player to make space if the deal might move them narrowly over the cap.

GMs certainly are always looking at ways to make their team better, but they tend to be selective in this practice so they aren't wasting their time(locking up cap space while decisions are being made, possibly missing out on other free agents) and/or alienating another GM.

If they think they can truly get the player and value them higher than the draft compensation they need to send back, it happens, but it does seem kind of rare.

[goenzoy]

On 7/3/2025 at 3:37 PM, B1GKappa97 said:

Then he's still an RFA and under team control, who will just take him to arbitration another few seasons before finally trading him off. 

I mean if he wants to go through that process, I guess he could get an extra $500K to $1M from an arbitrator maybe? It'd be a pain in the ass to go through every offseason though. 

That is simple not true. Another team can give Rossi a ONE year offersheet in whatever price range.And even when Wild will match they cant trade Rossi for a year and he is UFA at the end of saison . But off course no team would use this nasty route 3 days into free agency 

[SkolWild73]

37 minutes ago, goenzoy said:

That is simple not true. Another team can give Rossi a ONE year offersheet in whatever price range.And even when Wild will match they cant trade Rossi for a year and he is UFA at the end of saison . But off course no team would use this nasty route 3 days into free agency 

He would not become a UFA.  The only way an RFA becomes a UFA before age 27 or 7 seasons is if he isn’t extended a qualifying offer.  There are exceptions for 25 year old players, but Rossi has played too many games for that.

Edited July 4 by SkolWild73

[goenzoy]

17 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

He would not become a UFA.  The only way an RFA becomes a UFA before age 27 or 7 seasons is if he isn’t extended a qualifying offer.  There are exceptions for 25 year old players, but Rossi has played too many games for that.

Well the guy I m talking to says differently but I m not a contract expert 

What I do know is that BG has put himself in a very bad position for no reason 

On a team with not enough center just a crazy situation .

Just imaging Rossi accepts a offersheet 8 days before training camp for one year and 8 million AAV and EEK gets hurts during training camp and does miss 20 games .He played 9 seasons for Wild not a single 82 game season.

Rossi has already 2 

[SkolWild73]

5 minutes ago, goenzoy said:

Well the guy I m talking to says differently but I m not a contract expert 

What I do know is that BG has put himself in a very bad position for no reason 

On a team with not enough center just a crazy situation .

Just imaging Rossi accepts a offersheet 8 days before training camp for one year and 8 million AAV and EEK gets hurts during training camp and does miss 20 games .He played 9 seasons for Wild not a single 82 game season.

Rossi has already 2 

I am not either.  Here is a link that I use.

https://puckpedia.com/salary-cap/unrestricted-free-agents-ufa
 

If Rossi is offer sheeted for one year and 8 million, highly unlikely, but if he is, and he accepts, we can still match it.

[mnfaninnc]

Check out this story from NHL Rumors:

Quote

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on NHL Network with Tony Luftman on July 1, the day of free agency, and was asked about the K’Andre Miller trade. Friedman stated that there was a chance the Carolina Hurricanes were going to offer sheet either Evan Bouchard or K’Andre Miller before they traded for Miller.

 

Elliotte Friedman: “So earlier , the (New York) Rangers signed Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven times seven contract. And the belief was, if they got Gavrikov, they would move K’Andre Miller. They are trading him to the Carolina Hurricanes.

And just to give you an idea of what I think Carolina has been up to the last few days, Evan Bouchard got his deal done in Edmonton four times 10 and a half. At the trade deadline this year, when (Mikko) Rantanen was still in Carolina, they talked to Edmonton about the player, and I believe the player who they asked for was Bouchard. And Edmonton remembered that.

Carolina has a lot of cap room. Carolina has a lot of draft assets, draft capital. And I think that the Oilers were worried that the Hurricanes were going to offer sheet Bouchard. So they signed him to that extension. Didn’t even let him get to July 1.

Now, I think they switched their focus a bit to Miller, and they were interested in doing it. I think the Rangers knew that, and I think what the Rangers did was, they’re going to trade Miller to the Hurricanes. I do think that Miller was potentially an offer sheet target for the Hurricanes, and instead, the two teams, excuse me, the two teams are going to work a deal with that.

NHLRumors.com Note: The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers were able to complete the trade for K’Andre Miller. Miller signed an eight-year $60 million contract with an AAV of $7.5 million. In exchange, the Rangers received a conditional 2026 first-round pick (top-10 protected), a 2026 second-round pick, and defenseman Scott Morrow. 

So it was a win for both teams. But the parts of the trade were similar to what we would see if there an offer sheet on the table for Miller. So the Rangers and Hurricanes worked on a deal that sent Miller to Carolina. It was also a high price for inside the division, but that is the price a team had to pay.

I briefly edited the article, but this is exactly the type of scenario Guerin is talking about when he says he will match a Rossi offersheet. His baseline on a trade is a 2026 1, 2, 3. In this case the Rangers get the 2026 1, 2 with the 1st top 10 protected and Scott Morrow. Scott Morrow is probably better than the 3rd, but, the 1st isn't unprotected. I'm pretty sure the Canes will make the playoffs next season, but just in case disaster happens, they don't lose a top 10 pick. 

I don't know what offers that Guerin has gotten for Rossi, but I'm sure they fall short of this baseline. So, if the offers are far short, and they might be as they're all futures, Guerin feels pretty certain that Rossi's not getting the offersheet he thinks he can get. So, apparently, nobody has called offering their 2026 1st top 10 protected, 2nd, and a player we could use just about ready. That is likely where Guerin's ransom is. He needs to keep about $7.5m in cap space free to match a Rossi offersheet, but typically, a team looking at going in this direction will reach out to the team for a deal. 

[mnfaninnc]

On 7/2/2025 at 5:40 PM, goenzoy said:

One year with 7 million or 2 with 6.5

This is ridiculous. What GM is going to offer 1 x $7m when the guy he's negotiating with has a pile of rocks for leverage? 

Rossi is kind of stuck here. He's been QO'd so the Wild continue having his rights. If he wants to play in the NHL, it's offersheet or bust for him. This may, indeed, be a time where Guerin is going to teach his agent a lesson. Rossi had pretty much no leverage to play hardball with Guerin. Guerin pretty much gets to tell Rossi what he's making next year. If Rossi doesn't feel like hustling he pretty much tanks his career. If Rossi doesn't feel like building up his body, he pretty much tanks his career. 

And, by not taking 5 x $5m or a 2 year deal, he will likely be offered less later in the summer. Less meaning <$4.6m. This negotiation is not on a fair playing field for Rossi or his agent. His only hope is that another team comes through with a $7.03m offer and they aren't really a playoff team. Guerin could sign him to a lowball deal, have him play and flip him at the deadline (or sooner) for a better player (package deal). Or, Rossi could so impress everyone that Guerin signs him to his big deal. 

Where Rossi got caught was not having his body built back up for the 1st year of his ELC. Had he played well in the N for that year, he's probably getting an decent extension. It may have been a decent bridge or a longterm deal. At this point, this is between Guerin and Rossi's agent, and Rossi doesn't have to sign his QO until later. But make no mistake, he is still considered Wild property.

[mnfaninnc]

On 7/2/2025 at 5:40 PM, goenzoy said:

One year with 7 million or 2 with 6.5

Sorry about the double post, the system glitched on me.

This is ridiculous. What GM is going to offer 1 x $7m when the guy he's negotiating with has a pile of rocks for leverage? 

Rossi is kind of stuck here. He's been QO'd so the Wild continue having his rights. If he wants to play in the NHL, it's offersheet or bust for him. This may, indeed, be a time where Guerin is going to teach his agent a lesson. Rossi had pretty much no leverage to play hardball with Guerin. Guerin pretty much gets to tell Rossi what he's making next year. If Rossi doesn't feel like hustling he pretty much tanks his career. If Rossi doesn't feel like building up his body, he pretty much tanks his career. 

And, by not taking 5 x $5m or a 2 year deal, he will likely be offered less later in the summer. Less meaning <$4.6m. This negotiation is not on a fair playing field for Rossi or his agent. His only hope is that another team comes through with a $7.03m offer and they aren't really a playoff team. Guerin could sign him to a lowball deal, have him play and flip him at the deadline (or sooner) for a better player (package deal). Or, Rossi could so impress everyone that Guerin signs him to his big deal. 

Where Rossi got caught was not having his body built back up for the 1st year of his ELC. Had he played well in the N for that year, he's probably getting an decent extension. It may have been a decent bridge or a longterm deal. At this point, this is between Guerin and Rossi's agent, and Rossi doesn't have to sign his QO until later. But make no mistake, he is still considered Wild property.

Edited July 4 by mnfaninnc

[goenzoy]

43 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

This is ridiculous. What GM is going to offer 1 x $7m when the guy he's negotiating with has a pile of rocks for leverage? 

Rossi is kind of stuck here. He's been QO'd so the Wild continue having his rights. If he wants to play in the NHL, it's offersheet or bust for him. This may, indeed, be a time where Guerin is going to teach his agent a lesson. Rossi had pretty much no leverage to play hardball with Guerin. Guerin pretty much gets to tell Rossi what he's making next year. If Rossi doesn't feel like hustling he pretty much tanks his career. If Rossi doesn't feel like building up his body, he pretty much tanks his career. 

 

But thats not true the player does have a huge leverage in many ways 

The only thing the player or his agent cant control is the term 

So in worst case they need to accept a one year deal until December 10th I think 

[goenzoy]

1 hour ago, SkolWild73 said:

I am not either.  Here is a link that I use.

https://puckpedia.com/salary-cap/unrestricted-free-agents-ufa
 

If Rossi is offer sheeted for one year and 8 million, highly unlikely, but if he is, and he accepts, we can still match it.

Yes but the matching will make it impossible to trade him for at least a year 

[SkolWild73]

2 hours ago, goenzoy said:

Yes but the matching will make it impossible to trade him for at least a year 

Correct

[Tony Abbott]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

This may, indeed, be a time where Guerin is going to teach his agent a lesson. Rossi had pretty much no leverage to play hardball with Guerin. Guerin pretty much gets to tell Rossi what he's making next year.

The leverage is having the Wild start Opening Night with Eriksson Ek, Hartman, Sturm, and ??? being their center group.

[Tony Abbott]

Guerin's excuses stop this upcoming season. Does he want to mess around with his job to save $2 million? I don't know, I guess we're gonna find out who wins this summer.

[Will D. Ness]

17 minutes ago, Tony Abbott said:

Guerin's excuses stop this upcoming season. Does he want to mess around with his job to save $2 million? I don't know, I guess we're gonna find out who wins this summer.

They very likely could have signed a deal last year close to 6M without the drama.  

Everybody has already lost and it's due to Rossi's agent.

[AKwildkraken]

5 hours ago, Tony Abbott said:

The leverage is having the Wild start Opening Night with Eriksson Ek, Hartman, Sturm, and ??? being their center group.

Don't leave out the fact Rossi isn't making money if he's not signed.  

[mnfaninnc]

17 hours ago, goenzoy said:

But thats not true the player does have a huge leverage in many ways 

The only thing the player or his agent cant control is the term 

So in worst case they need to accept a one year deal until December 10th I think 

What's his leverage? He's no Nylander, so if he wants to hold out until December 10th, it's like torpedoing his career.

[mnfaninnc]

14 hours ago, Tony Abbott said:

The leverage is having the Wild start Opening Night with Eriksson Ek, Hartman, Sturm, and ??? being their center group.

This is a completely losing argument for Rossi. He's no where near as talented as Nylander is, or was when he pulled a stunt like that. This is the kind of thing that gets you rejected in the locker room. Unless, of course, he wants to play 4th line when he gets back. 

His following season is arbitration eligible. He's got some leverage at that point. If he holds out, he slingshots that leverage into oblivion. He gains the reputation of being a me first player. And, he's not in hockey game shape to compete.

Eriksson Ek, Yurov, Hartman, Sturm can hold down the fort while he's out of the lineup. Sturm can play 3rd line C, though probably not as effectively as 4th line C. Hartman can play 2nd line C, even though it's not a perfect fit. That said, Bankier or Haight can fill in at 4th line C if necessary. I don't think Heidt would be ready for that. 

This year, offersheet is his only leverage, and that will be trumped by a match on anything below $7,020,113. And, Rossi at this point, is not worth $7,020,113/yr. I will admit that this is completely unfair to Rossi at this point, but that's how the CBA is written and the players agreed to this structure. So, while Rossi produces at a $7m clip, he also gets to be a value signing for 1 more year.

With that said, Guerin is more of a player's GM, and I can't see him only offering the QO. I think he'll want Rossi satisfied yet hungry and predict a 1 year deal somewhere in the <$4.5m neighborhood. Guerin has been generous with younger players, oversigning Goose at $3.75m, and getting a crummy season out of him. Goose rebounded last season, but also showed that he was not elite. He's a solid $5m goalie. 

We've seen Guerin step on an agent before and jettison his client to Ottawa, a place at the time considered purgatory. Notice how Talbot quickly was a 1 and done goalie there, quickly moving on to the Kings. Guerin could step on the agent again in this scenario if he continues to play hardball, and simply lets the QO stand as the offer. The agent has got to work in Rossi's best interest, and Rossi's best interest is to get through 1 more year of 40+ games to at least get to arbitration. And this is why a 1 year deal will be less than $5m. 

I don't know whether or not Talbot fired his agent after the debacle, because the agent was clearly trying to make a name for himself. But if he didn't, he should have. Talbot's agent did not have Talbot's best interests at heart when he challenged Guerin during a draft and then went to the media. It was probably more about trying to gain clients from newly drafted players. Talbot paid the price and later admitted that he never wanted to leave. 

If the decision is to let's just see what the Wild will do without me, that opens up a door for another player to take his spot, a truly risky gamble...I'd call it a bluff. When you open up opportunities for others, there's a good chance those others can take your spot. Does Rossi really want to risk Yurov playing with Zuccy and Tarasenko? 

[OldDutchChip]

Garland gets 6X6 but Rossi wants 7+…..

[WildNotMild]

17 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

What's his leverage? He's no Nylander, so if he wants to hold out until December 10th, it's like torpedoing his career.

Maybe I am missing something, but Rossi doesn’t HAVE to agree to Billy’s offers.  He has the qualifying offer and can choose to sign the one year deal and bet on himself.  He then has the chance to put up better numbers and force Billy to up his offer or he has arbitration rights after next year.  Again, I may be wrong, but if he puts up close to 60 points again this year, I don’t see an arbitrator awarding him less than 6 million based on all the recent contracts.  There is always a risk to the player in this scenario with career ending injury.  The risk to the team is alienating the player (Fiala) and/or getting a reputation among players that the GM/team doesn’t treat players fairly.  I think this is a risk especially because the Wild already have trouble attracting free agents.

[OldDutchChip]

5 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

Garland gets 6X6 but Rossi wants 7+…..

i thought it was Keller not Garland ! always get the two confused

forget what i said 

[mnfaninnc]

25 minutes ago, WildNotMild said:

The risk to the team is alienating the player (Fiala) and/or getting a reputation among players that the GM/team doesn’t treat players fairly.  I think this is a risk especially because the Wild already have trouble attracting free agents.

I agree with the top part, in fact, that's really the focus of my argument. But this part I don't and have little factual evidence to back it up. I don't believe that Fiala and his gf/wife wanted to be in MN longterm. It was a crappy place to be for his wife's career as a model. Guerin couldn't pay Fiala what he wanted and they had to go the arbitration route, due to the buyouts. Guerin knew how Fiala felt, and knew he wouldn't sign longterm here, so he already had a deal in place with LA because that is where Fiala wanted to go. (He probably had the FL teams on his mind too, but there really wasn't any room there)

I see this as more like what Guerin ran into with Talbot's agent. He hasn't treated other players this way, and I don't think this will have a bearing on other free agents unless they are represented by this guy. I think it would be a much better event if Guerin shared his expectations for the big contract and if Rossi meets those expectations he has a handshake deal to get the big deal. Most of these other guys who are comparables have 1 or more years of service than Rossi does and that's what makes it different. 

In other news, I also read that Chicago is talking with Bedard about an extension. Here's a guy who has 2 years under his belt too. Bedard is younger and has a better 1st year than Rossi, but they were pretty comparable last season. I think Bedard has a higher ceiling on him, however, and that's probably what Chicago is buying. 

 

[mnfaninnc]

25 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

i thought it was Keller not Garland ! always get the two confused

Keller is an interesting case. He got $7.150m x 8 coming out of his ELC. As we may all remember, Phoenix/AZ/Utah was near the cap floor on contracts. They may have inflated Keller a bit to help them reach the floor. This is the same team that traded for LTIR guys and didn't LTIR them so they could reach the floor.

From a production standpoint, Keller has a lot of speed, is generally around Rossi's size, but I think plays more wing now. Keller got 65 points his first season and didn't hit it since. It took him 2 more years to get back to that level. That's a lot of money to pay a guy just on futures, however, it has paid off as he hit 90 points last season. On top of this, Keller has been a - player his whole career. 

If I'm Rossi's agent, this would be a comparable I'd be using, pointing out that Rossi is far more responsible in his own end. But, it might be next season where Rossi gets this deal. Also, to be fair, Keller did play in the N all 3 years of his ELC. That's what Rossi has going against him. 

[WildNotMild]

4 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I agree with the top part, in fact, that's really the focus of my argument. But this part I don't and have little factual evidence to back it up. I don't believe that Fiala and his gf/wife wanted to be in MN longterm. It was a crappy place to be for his wife's career as a model. Guerin couldn't pay Fiala what he wanted and they had to go the arbitration route, due to the buyouts. Guerin knew how Fiala felt, and knew he wouldn't sign longterm here, so he already had a deal in place with LA because that is where Fiala wanted to go. (He probably had the FL teams on his mind too, but there really wasn't any room there)

I see this as more like what Guerin ran into with Talbot's agent. He hasn't treated other players this way, and I don't think this will have a bearing on other free agents unless they are represented by this guy. I think it would be a much better event if Guerin shared his expectations for the big contract and if Rossi meets those expectations he has a handshake deal to get the big deal. Most of these other guys who are comparables have 1 or more years of service than Rossi does and that's what makes it different. 

In other news, I also read that Chicago is talking with Bedard about an extension. Here's a guy who has 2 years under his belt too. Bedard is younger and has a better 1st year than Rossi, but they were pretty comparable last season. I think Bedard has a higher ceiling on him, however, and that's probably what Chicago is buying. 

 

Apologies if my first post wasn’t clear on the Fiala issue.  I was trying to give an example of an arbitration route/case where the arbitrator awarded a contract value in favor of the player versus the GM’s offer.  

I agree that Fiala didn’t want to stay in MN long term.  Although I don’t think Billy has been unfair to players overall, I do think playing too much hardball with a player like Rossi doesn’t help with free agents.  Again, it might not hurt, but it definitely won’t help.  There are also other more important factors deterring free agents from wanting to sign here.

As far as a handshake deal if Rossi does/shows want Billy wants from him, before the 4th line in the playoffs, I would’ve agreed.  I don’t know if there is still trust between Rossi and Billy/Hynes.  That is why if Rossi wants to bet on himself and/or wants out of MN, he might choose the one year qualifying offer and arbitration route.  It is risky due to potential injuries, but it can also get expensive for the team quickly and not give Billy the cost certainty that he likes.

[goenzoy]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

What's his leverage? He's no Nylander, so if he wants to hold out until December 10th, it's like torpedoing his career.

Never said that he is Nylander or will hold out until December 10th 

But the numbers Rossi did makes it very clear that he can demand 6 million and above .And as longer as things drag it will be become clear that one year deal is the only option