Article: Trading Marco Rossi Is Acting Like the Flames and Sabres, Not the Panthers

[Mateo3xm]

20 hours ago, raithis said:

I agree he's not all bad at face-offs, but I think they need a couple players who average over 50% to bring the team average to the middle.  Pulling less than half of draws puts the Wild on their heels too much and the defense doesn't seem to get set quickly enough when the face-off is in the defensive zone.

Part of me still thinks Rossi would be better suited as a wing in the NHL.  And while he always looks a little lost on the 2nd PP unit when he's playing a different position than center (like he's not quite sure where to be), I mostly think that's because the 1st unit gets the bulk of the PP time and all the players on that unit just don't have game chemistry because of it. 

So I'm sticking with the gut-feeling that Rossi would do better as a wing.  It's not that I doubt he can play center, but I think he would just do better as a wing.  I also think he kind of ran out of steam towards the end of the season from trying to stand his ground in the slot - another reason why it might be better to move him from center.

Of course, I'd love to see him prove me wrong.  He's an easy guy to root for and I hope he continues to have success.  I mean, for a kid who had struggles with myocarditis, Rossi has repeatedly shown he has a ton of heart.

I'm kind of in agreement with the bridge deal.  Give him a 1 or 2 year deal at around $5M and see how he does.  Yeah, it might cost the Wind more in the long run since he could drive his price higher, but I still see that as a win-win - Rossi gets a huge raise that is justifiable and the Wild delay committing to a player with some past health issues.  They are likely behind him, but after just getting rid of the cap penalties, I'd think it would be difficult for Guerin to jump into any long contract that he feels as if it might have a chance to hinder the team.  If Rossi truly believes it's behind him and that he has the skill and talent to continue to be a ~60 point or better player, then he has all the evidence he'd need to get paid after the bridge deal reaches it's end.

I agree with the wing thing. I think he’d be a bit hurt if they moved him to wing, to my understanding he’s always played center and that’s what he wants to be but if it helps the team and he can be a Swiss army knife player, that’s far more valuable to the team.

[1Brotherbill]

23 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

Rossi isn’t bad at draw. His second yr he was 46.8%. He’s just young.
it took JEE four years to get higher than 46.8% on draws and he was at 47.1%.

I think Rossi deserves some where in the middle of 5-7mil. If he’s offered a bridge at 6mil I think that’s perfectly fair but 5x5 isn’t if Rossi has far more to show.

Having a top six center not win at least 50% of your draws is a problem.  Nobody on the Wild now can do at least that.  Freddie was the best draw guy we had.  If Yurov comes in and can win draws it will be amazing.

I'm not saying win 90% of the draws.  51% is exponentially better than 49% that difference basically adds 20 goals on a season.  If you don't believe me watch Kirill and company chase the puck around for a minute and a half and then go off the ice.  Winning draws is the number one thing the Wild need to address.  

[Mateo3xm]

8 minutes ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Having a top six center not win at least 50% of your draws is a problem.  Nobody on the Wild now can do at least that.  Freddie was the best draw guy we had.  If Yurov comes in and can win draws it will be amazing.

I'm not saying win 90% of the draws.  51% is exponentially better than 49% that difference basically adds 20 goals on a season.  If you don't believe me watch Kirill and company chase the puck around for a minute and a half and then go off the ice.  Winning draws is the number one thing the Wild need to address.  

I’d agree with that. I believe that’s one of the reasons they got Sturm.