By Tom Schreier -
The Minnesota Wild felt Marco Rossi had the tools to be a No. 1 center when they drafted him 9th overall in 2020. His 5-foot-9, 183 lbs. frame turned eight teams off of him, but Bill Guerin felt there was a chance he could make Minnesota’s roster out of camp. “He's got a swagger to him,” Guerin said. “[Rossi] believes in himself. He's gonna bet on himself. If he can come in and play well enough, he can make the team. If not, we'll figure out what's best for him.”
Rossi got COVID and suffered from myocarditis in 2020, which threatened his life and hampered his development. But Rossi recovered and eventually returned to form. He had 120 points in the OHL the year before Minnesota drafted him and 53 points in 63 games as a rookie in the AHL. Rossi broke camp with the Wild last year but only had one point in his first 16 games. He played three more games with Minnesota but spent most of the season in Des Moines, where he had 51 points in 53 games.
Minnesota’s plan for Rossi never made much sense. They had drafted a potential No. 1 center, something they had been searching for since Wild followers debated whether Mikko Koivu was a bona fide 1C. But they didn’t seem to have a plan for him. Joel Eriksson Ek developed into a No. 1 center in his fifth NHL season. Still, Minnesota should benefit from having two centers who can play the top six.
Instead, the Wild reportedly aren’t ready to commit to him long-term and might trade him. Minnesota will be in cap hell for another year and must be prudent with spending. But their cap penalties for buying Zach Parise and Ryan Suter out are all the more reason to invest in young players with upside. Rossi has produced 33 points in his first 60 games this year on an entry-level contract. They’re getting better value on him than they would an aging veteran on a long-term deal.
However, the Wild have valued veteran experience over prospect upside under Guerin despite having a relatively stocked farm system. Guerin has readily signed most of the roster to no-move clauses. In the offseason, he doled out multi-year deals to Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, and Mats Zuccarello and locked Frederick Gaudreau into a five-year pact in April 2023. Guerin probably got each player to sign for less annual value by offering them trade protection, and he likes the cost certainty. But Guerin has created a mediocre one-line team that will probably miss the playoffs this year.
The Wild aren’t picking on Rossi, specifically. Guerin said he was giving Adam Beckman, once a promising prospect, an opportunity in early February. Beckman never saw the ice. He traded Calen Addison in November and initially delayed calling up Matt Boldy. Ultimately, Guerin’s decision to prioritize cost certainty and veteran players over young talent will have far-reaching implications. In the immediate term, the Wild should be sellers but can’t trade the necessary players to rebuild.
Therefore, Minnesota will either miss the playoffs or be an easy out in the first round again. Instead of using a lost season to land a top pick, they’ll select somewhere in the teens again. Guerin can’t overhaul the roster because they’ve locked most of their core into long-term deals, they’re playing so poorly the Wild won’t be able to trade them, or they're driving winning. Rossi should be a foundational player for Minnesota. But he doesn’t have a role because Eriksson Ek is on the top line, and the other three are a hodgepodge of underperforming veterans or grinders.
During Minnesota’s 7-1-1 streak out of the All-Star break, its lines looked something like this:
Sometimes, Hynes would put Rossi on the second line. But he would also revert to using Hartman, a converted winger, between Marcus Johansson and Mats Zuccarello. Hynes sees it as placing Rossi on the “second most productive” line. Ultimately, he doesn’t have anywhere great to put him. If Johansson were having a better season, he’d probably put Boldy and Johansson together on the first line and pair Kaprizov and Zuccarello together. Instead, he’s loaded the top line and found a spot for everyone else in the bottom nine.
Rossi is having a breakout season. He deserves better than to be swallowed up by the void of Minnesota’s underachieving veteran roster. But the Wild are unwilling to give Beckman an opportunity, and they can’t use a premier pick to draft a top-six winger. Rossi has long been Minnesota’s canary in the coal mine. Like other Wild prospects, management and parts of the fanbase have turned on Rossi when he hasn’t been productive. However, that’s a misunderstanding of the situation. It’s blaming the canary when there’s something wrong with the mine.
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