Article: NHL Insider Confident No One Will Offer Sheet Marco Rossi

[0 Stanley Cups]

45 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I need an exception on this comment. 1) Kaprizov is a far larger player than Rossi, his thickness is much more. 2) I point out Zuccarello, Freddy, and Spurgeon all the time as being too small. 

I disagree, Rossi may not have height, but he's a tank.  At 5'9" and 192 lbs, the dude has tree trunks for legs

[0 Stanley Cups]

If Rossi doesn't get an offer sheet, and perhaps it's looking that way, he'll sign a two year contract just before camp (mid-Sept).  Why give BG any more additional time to try and find a trade partner, screw BG, that's just business.  Of course, STL had their offer sheets signed mid-August last year. 

I think the most frustrating part is the way BG has publicly handled the Marco situation.  Nickel and dime Rossi, then overpay Trenin, and take on the salary dump of Tarasenko, which I think is worth a shot.

[Pewterschmidt]

27 minutes ago, 0 Stanley Cups said:

I disagree, Rossi may not have height, but he's a tank.  At 5'9" and 192 lbs, the dude has tree trunks for legs

This take doesn't really pass the eye test.  Rossi is not the noodle on the puck that say Granny or Zuccy are, but he's no tank.

[B1GKappa97]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

While I agree the Rossi camp is getting a reality check on his market value, I think GM’s are waiting for bill to shoot his load on 97 contract, then interested GM’s can sharpen the pencil on Rossi offer sheet knowing the #’s on bill’s financial bind.  
i now believe Rossi gets an offer sheet this summer.  

Not sure how Kaprizov matters for Rossi all that much.

Kaprizov is locked into his $9M AAV for this year and, even if that goes up $6M in future seasons, the salary cap of the NHL is expected to rise $8.5M next offseason and going forward so Kap's new deal shouldn't affect the cap space left over all that much. 

[B1GKappa97]

1 hour ago, 0 Stanley Cups said:

I think the most frustrating part is the way BG has publicly handled the Marco situation.  Nickel and dime Rossi, then overpay Trenin, and take on the salary dump of Tarasenko, which I think is worth a shot.

Well that is partially because Trenin was a free agent who could sign with anyone and Rossi is a restricted-free agent and the team has far more leverage with him than they ever did with Trenin. 

Publically, Guerin has literally said he's not dying to trade Marco and wants him back, just at the value they have him slotted in at. So I'm not sure what's frustrating about that. Just because he didn't immediately cave into Rossi's overpaid demands??

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

In other news, Boldy just got put on the top ten contracts in the NHL right now. His market value (based on Dom's model) is 12.3M.

And that's why I didn't think the Wild should trade Boldy straight up for Mikko Rantanen when ODC was ranting about stuff like that.

Rantanen might be worth $13M, but he'd need to be paid around that while the Wild have Boldy at $7M for the next 5 seasons!!!!!

Basically, Boldy and Eriksson Ek for the price of Rantanen. Rantanen is a great player, but I'd rather have Boldy + JEE than just Rantanen. I believe Boldy is also still getting better, so could surpass Rantanen in production in those 5 years.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, 0 Stanley Cups said:

I think the most frustrating part is the way BG has publicly handled the Marco situation.  Nickel and dime Rossi, then overpay Trenin, and take on the salary dump of Tarasenko, which I think is worth a shot.

Not sure what you mean by that. They offered Rossi the 5x5 contract when his only productive season had been a 40 point season. I guess he also indicated a 1 or 2 year deal would be at less than $5M.

Guerin has stated that he likes Rossi and would match any offer sheet.  He's offered more money to Rossi than every forward on the roster not named Kaprizov, Boldy, or Eriksson Ek, who are all more valuable players.

What Guerin hasn't said, but I believe to be true is that they'll go above $5M for a long term deal after his 60 point season, but they won't go to $7M.

Guerin hasn't said much about it, but when an agent will only discuss deals above what you deem to be reasonable, you do what Guerin is doing...letting them marinate on your position and come back to you after they've had a chance to think over their options. Guerin has been negotiating this correctly.

[Scalptrash]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

That would most certainly be matched by Guerin. If a team really wants him and doesn't just want to waste time, that number must be $7.03m or higher.

I would list the Ducks on that list too, but as for an offersheet, I'd take of CBJ. CBJ has got plenty of other assets to trade with besides using a '26 1, 2, 3. They've also got strength down their middle.

Yes, it would probably be matched by Guerin, but it is also more than he wants to pay. It would force his hand and could put the Wild in another salary cap conundrum. That could be advantageous to a team like Calgary. You either add 60 points to your team and take 60 points away from the Wild (how are they going to make that up this season?), OR you cash strap them and limit their future moves.

It's pretty obvious Billy made that statement to stop offers from coming in so he could low ball Rossi. Everything he has done to him is to devalue him and make this next contract smaller. He was probably just as surprised as everyone that Rossi put up 60 points last year, especially with Kaprizov and Ek out half the season. That wasn't in his "5 year plan", he didn't budget for it.

[Scalptrash]

Quote

I would hate for his to develop further in the RFA period to an 80pt guy steady and then give us the middle finger as soon as he hits UFA. 

If Billy is still the GM at this point, cya Marco! He's probably already counting the days. Boldy might feel the same way (especially now after that article), even Kaprizov. If Kaprizov doesn't sign for the full eight, that will be very telling. I certainly wouldn't want to play for the Wild under Billy and John. Not the way they manage players and contracts. Iowa is the poster child for mismanagement and none of the prospects want to be there. I wonder how players feel when they hear the Wild picked them. They are excited in the moment that they got drafted into the NHL and that may be enough. But then they look deeper into the franchise and go "oh shit".

[SkolWild73]

43 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

Yes, it would probably be matched by Guerin, but it is also more than he wants to pay. It would force his hand and could put the Wild in another salary cap conundrum.

Say another team offers Rossi a 5x7 contract and we match.  We currently have $45,155,168 in cap space for 2026/27 and 8 roster spots to fill, 5 forwards, 2 D and 1 goalie.  Let's go on the high side and say Kap gets $16M, Rossi $7M, Gus $8M, Jiricek $2.5M and Lambos/Spacek $1.5M.  That would leave us with $10,155,168 for the remaining 3 forward spots.  If two of those players are on ELC's, that would leave us with around $9.4M for the last spot.  

I think the above salaries for Kap, Rossi and Gus are on the high side and if we can get them each for $1M less, having over $12M for one more forward would be great.  If we can't, $9.4M still isn't bad.

[SkolWild73]

10 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Say another team offers Rossi a 5x7 contract and we match.  We currently have $45,155,168 in cap space for 2026/27 and 8 roster spots to fill, 5 forwards, 2 D and 1 goalie.  Let's go on the high side and say Kap gets $16M, Rossi $7M, Gus $8M, Jiricek $2.5M and Lambos/Spacek $1.5M.  That would leave us with $10,155,168 for the remaining 3 forward spots.  If two of those players are on ELC's, that would leave us with around $9.4M for the last spot.  

I think the above salaries for Kap, Rossi and Gus are on the high side and if we can get them each for $1M less, having over $12M for one more forward would be great.  If we can't, $9.4M still isn't bad.

Sorry, should be $8.4 left for last spot and over $11M if we get Kap, Rossi and Gus get $1M less.  

[mnfaninnc]

23 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

The way Billy is going about this will get him locked in for a good AAV, hopefully that low AAV is worth the possible rift in the relationship and doesn't turn into another Fiala situation. We may not make it out so cleanly next time.

I do not believe that the Fiala situation had anything to do with Guerin. I think Fiala let Guerin know he wasn't resigning long term, and this was not the market he wanted to be in (I believe mainly due to his wife/gf). 

It's not that she hated the area, it's that she needed to be south for her career asperations. I believe Guerin didn't like it, but he accommodated Fiala a year early. Nobody likes being rejected, but I think that's where this went in contract negotiations and Guerin made the best he could out of the situation. He got a better prospect in Faber because he didn't require a rostered player in the typical Player+Prospect+Pick formula. 

Guerin didn't want the rostered player due to cap constraints. And, even though Faber was in our backyard, no serious scout had him producing the points he has so far. Only someone watching him for awhile could have seen that coming, when he would provide offense at pressure times at the U. 

In summary, the Fiala situation was more about location, and for Rossi, he doesn't have the same needs. He's also not a $7m player at present, a contract like that would be betting on the player to improve to that place. In other words, to be considered at that place, he needs another >60 pt. season under his belt. Hartman scored 34 goals in a season once. Does anyone consider him a 30 goal scorer? NO!

[mnfaninnc]

22 hours ago, 0 Stanley Cups said:

I disagree, Rossi may not have height, but he's a tank.  At 5'9" and 192 lbs, the dude has tree trunks for legs

If this were true, then we wouldn't see him getting knocked down so often. Kaprizov doesn't get knocked down like that. He's far stockier and stronger than Rossi. But, Kaprizov has pretty much maxed out, Rossi can still add.

[mnfaninnc]

20 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

Yes, it would probably be matched by Guerin, but it is also more than he wants to pay. It would force his hand and could put the Wild in another salary cap conundrum. That could be advantageous to a team like Calgary. You either add 60 points to your team and take 60 points away from the Wild (how are they going to make that up this season?), OR you cash strap them and limit their future moves.

Well, this would assume that Guerin had no plan for this. I do believe he has planned to defend up to $7.02m. If it clicks beyond that, I think he's taking the 1, 2, 3. To your point, though, if Rossi was asking for 7 x $7m, and he got an offersheet for 5 x $7m, he kind of wins the argument. I expect him to be worth more in 4 seasons than the $7m (without the capflation), but I still believe this is too risky for the team to bet on. I do not see Rossi as a $5m player next season either. I think he could reach $5m by the end of next season, but based on his current work (only 2 years of stats), he's not at that level yet. 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

4 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I do not believe that the Fiala situation had anything to do with Guerin

With what Guerin was saying publicly about Fiala, and the fact Fiala had to take them to arbitration 2 years in a row, I doubt that Fiala felt very loved here. Regardless of other factors, Fiala's comments after getting to the kings made it clear there was no love lost between them.

Put this together with the news of Guerin being accused of verbal harassment and some other misgivings in the front office tells you how he treats people that aren't his guys. You can say it was all his girlfriend but do you really think the way a player is treated has nothing to do with their next contract? Come on now.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

On 7/30/2025 at 12:52 PM, Scalptrash said:

You either add 60 points to your team and take 60 points away from the Wild (how are they going to make that up this season?), OR you cash strap them and limit their future moves.

Not exactly.  You might upgrade from a 10-15 point player to a 50-55 point player for the cost of a 1st round pick and an undersized top 6 player for the next 5 years.

Assuming they don't put Rossi on line 1 with Huberdeau and Coronato, Rossi might not come close to 60 points. They don't have Kaprizov and Boldy, who were heavily involved in the points Rossi did score. There's a reason the Wild didn't extend Hartman at 7 years and $7M when he posted 65 points with Kaprizov and Zuccy.

If you miss the playoffs by a lot, you could have given up a lottery pick for a massive difference maker with that 1st rounder. It also assumes that Calgary doesn't have other top 6 players they prefer to bring into their lineups from their prospects or other free agents they could sign without giving up draft capital.

And what goes around often comes around, so if Calgary makes a move like that, a few years down the road when they are up against the cap, they might be targeted in a similar manner.

[Mateo3xm]

On 7/29/2025 at 1:28 PM, Pablo said:

Rossi has an issue. All GMs are close to the cap and they wont be held hostage to one player that is pigeonholed early in his career. Rossi’s problem is of his own making. 

???

[mnhockeyfan03]

Wild should trade Rossi and something else for Pavel Zacha from Boston.  He has a good contract and is a very big talented power Center and is available. Then get Jack Roslovic as a free agent and this offseason will be much better.  

[SkolWild73]

1 hour ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Wild should trade Rossi and something else for Pavel Zacha from Boston.  He has a good contract and is a very big talented power Center and is available. Then get Jack Roslovic as a free agent and this offseason will be much better.  

Have seen Racha’s name come up that teams are calling, but nothing yet that he is actually available.  Lots of articles listing a bunch of teams that are fits.

I wonder what is up with Roslovich.  He had to sign a smaller contract last year than his previous one, then he got scratched for a bunch of games in the postseason and now no one has signed him.    Doesn’t seem like a bad player, but there must be something we don’t know?

[mnhockeyfan03]

1 hour ago, SkolWild73 said:

Have seen Racha’s name come up that teams are calling, but nothing yet that he is actually available.  Lots of articles listing a bunch of teams that are fits.

I wonder what is up with Roslovich.  He had to sign a smaller contract last year than his previous one, then he got scratched for a bunch of games in the postseason and now no one has signed him.    Doesn’t seem like a bad player, but there must be something we don’t know?

I saw this out there. Things are going to heat up in August.  Hopefully we are talking hard with Boston on Zacha.  https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2025/07/bruins-will-have-to-consider-trading.html

No idea on Roslovic.  He seems like a very good player and could be had for 3x3 probably

Roslovic and Zacha combined would only cost us $8mm combined towards cap.  We need 2 more solid forwards.  Rossi isn’t in their long term plans so figure out how to move on.  Rakell would be another guy to go after.  Zacha for sure though he is a very large body.  Also Kuznetsov is still out there to be had.  

[goenzoy]

On 7/29/2025 at 3:56 PM, Pewterschmidt said:

apparently has a good sense for his market value around the league.  If we can get Rossi on a reasonable, short term bridge deal that keeps him tradeable down the road, then bill is managing the asset correctly.

We simply don't know the market value of Rossi .

His demands for other team's might be totally different from what he is asking from Wild.Also with a player like Roslavic unsigned other team's might be still in evaluation phase for 2C or need to trade their own player s first for upgrade 

[WildNotMild]

One thing that is important to note:  although Billy might be playing his leverage correctly when it comes to Rossi, it does come with a cost.  The Wild can’t sign and/or trade for more contracts AND still defend against an offer sheet until the Rossi situation is resolved.  

I also think Billy wants to leave extra money for the Kaprizov extension just in case since the Wild can’t afford the PR nightmare if Kaprizov doesn’t re-up.

Keeping Rossi’s contract where Billy wants it is important, but there is a “hidden” cost of not being able to do much of anything else until it is resolved unless Billy is going to leave himself exposed to an offer sheet.  Like others have stated, other GMs aren’t going to offer sheet anything that Billy can easily match.