Article: Is Bill Guerin's Tension With Marco Rossi A Media Creation?

[Bekki Antonelli]

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[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

The Wild offered Rossi a 5-year, $25 million deal, which he turned down. Rossi reportedly was looking for around $7 million AAV. He might’ve been able to get it if he were an unrestricted free agent, but as a restricted free agent, he had no leverage. 

Players generally don't negotiate much in their deals. Rossi's agent turned down the offer, believing a better deal could be had, and for Rossi, the 3-year deal likely is a better deal, assuming he continues on an upward trajectory.

I don't think there's much real tension. Hynes put Rossi with the players he was with on the 4th line in the playoffs, and explained why. Rossi certainly should have felt like he could have done more, and he will likely work hard to prove it this year. Guerin may have agreed with the move, but it was a coaching decision, not a personnel(GM) decision.

Naturally, Rossi's agent gets a cut from the best deal he can negotiate, so he has a major stake in the contract that gets signed--he's going to stretch out negotiations unless he gets a big offer. Rossi only has to work on getting ready to show Hynes that he belongs higher in the lineup, he isn't really involved in the negotiations.

Yes, much of it is media narrative amplified by social media. I'm not saying Guerin and Rossi are golfing buddies, but I don't think they have some major rift that is going to cause problems for the Wild.

[Citizen Strife]

Hynes and Guerin aren't in the business of deliberately punishing a player.  Their jobs are on the line because they have to win games.  Rossi can certainly help you win games, but players like Kap, Ek, and Boldy are just plain better.  For the Vegas series, Hartman and Foligno were too.

The worst we have ever heard about Guerin dicking with a player was that snide comment about Fiala versus Dumba.  

The daily grind of social media (this site included) is exhausting.  People want answers for EVERYTHING, most are never happy or vent frustrations like they are, and can't stand something not making sense.

Rossi could be both a valuable player in the organization AND someone who is "right now" not worth Boldy money.  You can be well liked and successful but not the be all end all reason a team rises and falls.

[Dango]

I haven't heard Billy say 1 thing about Rossi that the media tried to report . everything i heard was hearsay  from social media .   .

[Scalptrash]

Why is Rossi always compared to Hartman in the playoffs? What about Gaudreau?

[Burnt Toast]

14 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

What about Gaudreau?

Traded. Expectations are rising. I’ve heard that the reason behind keeping Freddie and the third line together was a continuity thing. Less disruption with only juggling two lines. Unfortunately things didn’t work out well with a first round exit. I can’t help but think CJH and Wild Management felt like they “had Vegas on the hook and let them get away.”

[WIWild]

Doesn't feel totally press created to me. How many times has NoJo alone earned the ProssBox but never been below 2nd line? I'd be shocked if that's the coaches decision, especially since multiple coaches have watched him doing cardio with no visible consequences.

[Citizen Strife]

Outside of Hartman and Foligno, what other winger options were there?  Don't say Ohgren, cause he still wasn't a viable NHL player yet.

Mojo's offensive skill leaves a lot to be desired, but I think he had surprising defensive metrics.  Something like 80th percentile or something in one of Tony's articles.

The goal this year is to have OFFENSE in the Top 6 though.

[NoJoSux]

"Is Bill Guerin's Tension With Marco Rossi A Media Creation?"

No way, the media always gets it right and never exhibits any bias or agenda whatsoever. 

[mnfaninnc]

I have to take exception to the stated fact that dropping Rossi to the 4th line in the playoffs hurt his leverage. He had essentially no leverage to begin with. If Guerin had already decided that he would be bridged, which is the same thing I would have done with both Boldy and Faber, his only leverage was on an offersheet. 

It also doesn't hurt another team's possibility of an offersheet. They would rely on their own scouting report and what they thought they could get the player for. It was pretty obvious that Guerin had a defense built to fend off an offersheet. How high would Guerin go? I suggest that $7.03m aav was where Guerin was going to bow out and take the compensation. 

It also was made known that Rossi was on the trade block, but Guerin also made it pretty clear that he did not want futures and did not want the team to get worse in the present. So, what did teams offer him? Futures and players he didn't like. So, essentially, they wanted to steal a very talented player thinking Guerin wanted to get rid of him. Guerin's discipline, which he has been ridiculed for, did not trade the player. 

1 thing we do know. Nobody wanted to give up a 1, 2, 3 in 2026 and pay Rossi over $7.03m. We're pretty sure Buffalo didn't want to take him as compensation for Peterka. I don't know if it's been offered, but Anaheim does not appear to want to swap him for Mason McTavish. 

Did Rossi ever want to leave? I don't know that answer, but publicly he has said no. But, if he was expecting offersheets and it was crickets, that chip on his shoulder should be getting pretty big, and we might see a Rossi who will be taking it out on several different franchises. 

[1Brotherbill]

3 hours ago, WIWild said:

Doesn't feel totally press created to me. How many times has NoJo alone earned the ProssBox but never been below 2nd line? I'd be shocked if that's the coaches decision, especially since multiple coaches have watched him doing cardio with no visible consequences.

Can you imagine NoJo on the third or fourth line?  I doubt you can with this comment.  You put players where they fit.  Rossi even though he is considered small plays rather well as an antagonist.  NoJo is not a checker or a pest.  

[WildNotMild]

1 hour ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Can you imagine NoJo on the third or fourth line?  I doubt you can with this comment.  You put players where they fit.  Rossi even though he is considered small plays rather well as an antagonist.  NoJo is not a checker or a pest.  

What do you mean NoJo isn’t a pest?  He annoys plenty of posters on this site.  And, yes, I know you meant being a pest to opposing teams.

[goenzoy]

11 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Hynes put Rossi with the players he was with on the 4th line in the playoffs, and explained why.

That is utter nonsense .

Rossi complained clearly that there was no proper communication why he was put on 4th line. Also his contract is a clear underpay for his numbers and not a good sign .

But Rossi will respond in a positive way . With Kaprisov healthy and Yurov and Tarasenko two talented players added the chance to repeat a 60 point season is good even 70 point's are possible 

[0 Stanley Cups]

Maybe it's not Bill Guerin's tension with Rossi per se, but Bill Guerin's tension with the media, or anybody who questions his decisions.  I used to believe in how he was trying to turn this team around, but no longer.  My image of BG has soured, but I believe most fans image of Rossi is positive and unchanged.  Peoples true colors are shown not when everything is going well, and Billy's demeanor in any media format (pod, interview, press conf) seems to be a bully and a jerk.  He may be an elite hockey guy, but not a great face for the organization.

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, goenzoy said:

That is utter nonsense .

Rossi complained clearly that there was no proper communication why he was put on 4th line. Also his contract is a clear underpay for his numbers and not a good sign .

I have to disagree with the underpaid aspect. Numbers aren't the only thing players are paid for. There's a lot of stuff that we can't see on tv that goes on outside of the play that also gets looked at. It's fairly obvious that Rossi, at his current ability and development, is not a $7m player. He's probably a $4.5m player which will elevate if he has another good year. 

People have thrown out comparables, especially with signings this year. I'd like to suggest that several players were overpaid by their organizations. In some cases, the organization needed to overpay to reach the cap floor. But, in this situation, comparables meant nothing since there was no leverage for Rossi. 3 x $5m is a valuable contract in the 3rd year, likely about right in the 2nd year and an overpay in the 1st year. There's also something to be said about reaching the arbitration mark after the ELC, which, he didn't.

Now, at the time, people poo poo the 5 x $5m offer. I think that is mainly due to when we heard about it, not when it was offered. At the time, I could see Rossi being compared to a player like Strome, and in this market probably always compared with Lundell. But, had we heard about it when it was offered, I think we'd have had a different take on it. Rossi's agent declined the offer, betting on Rossi to have a breakout year. However, instead of finishing strong, he once again finished weak. Some say 60 points is 60 points, but he was on pace for the middle 70s. It is a legitimate question by management to ask which player do we have here? Based upon the finish, if I were in Guerin's shoes, I wouldn't have increased my offer a bit.

As for the communication aspect, Huck is right, it was explained. However, that explanation could have been communicated earlier when Rossi was being dropped in the lineup along with a how to get elevated plan. In fact, that whole line should have been elevated, and don't even change the lines, just give the 4th line more minutes. It was effective in the series.

What isn't explained, and we have no way of knowing, is if the lines get reshuffled and Rossi is elevated against Edmonton if we get through Vegas. What was the most obvious is that Freddy didn't work, and Freddy has since been shipped out.

[MNCountryLife]

Rumors have it that Kirill is expected back in the states in the next week or so.  Time to ink him for the next 8 years. 🍻

[MNCountryLife]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Now, at the time, people poo poo the 5 x $5m offer. I think that is mainly due to when we heard about it, not when it was offered. At the time, I could see Rossi being compared to a player like Strome, and in this market probably always compared with Lundell. But, had we heard about it when it was offered, I think we'd have had a different take on it. Rossi's agent declined the offer, betting on Rossi to have a breakout year. However, instead of finishing strong, he once again finished weak. Some say 60 points is 60 points, but he was on pace for the middle 70s. It is a legitimate question by management to ask which player do we have here? Based upon the finish, if I were in Guerin's shoes, I wouldn't have increased my offer a bit.

So you're saying Rossi didn't pass the smell test for $7M.  LOL... 

Rossi isn't flashy but he tends to do the right thing and you rarely see him at fault for something.  He puts up good points but when the team really needs him to perform over a stretch of games.. he seems to fall short a bit.  Which is why I think he didn't get any offer sheets from other teams.  If a team really valued him at that $7m level I think they would have done it no matter what BG had said.  GMs are in the business of improving their teams....not catering to feelings of players or other GMs.  BG making the statement that they would match anything would not be a deterrent to forcing him to prove it... especially when they knew his number was $5M.    

The cold hard truth is that this has nothing to do with Rossi's size or his relationship with BG.  It had everything to do with how GMs valued him based on his tape... and opposing teams either didn't have the money to offer Rossi over $5 or they didn't value him over $5.

[0 Stanley Cups]

26 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Which is why I think he didn't get any offer sheets from other teams.

He also likely didn't get an offer sheet because teams don't want to be eliminated from the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes for next years draft.  If a GM offer sheeted, pretty much anyone eligible (McTavish, Hughes, etc.) let alone Marco, and their team had to forfeit the first overall pick for McKenna, that's a fireable offense. 

Perhaps the Blues assessed the weak draft year for 2025 into their calculation to offer sheet Holloway and Broberg, even though they didn't even have to relinquish a first rounder, just like the Wild assessed Jiricek was likely a better option than another ~20th overall pick in a weak draft.  Everyone was buzzing about offer sheets this offseason after last years, however, forfeiting the McKenna sweepstakes as well as the increase in the salary cap for everyone pretty much squelched that option this year.

Re-signing Marco was much better for BG than his other summer moves (Tarasenko, Sturm), so at least the Wild didn't get worse than last year.

[0 Stanley Cups]

I just hope the "lottery" for McKenna doesn't go to CHI or PIT

[Dango]

The last thing this team needs is the coach losing trust of the GM , Guerin isnt going to walk into the locker room and correct Hynes  line up decisions  because then Hynes loses  his confidence , im sure they collaborate ideas  when they have 4-5-6-7 day breaks but not every day to day .