The Wild have received legitimate top-six production this year from 2020 ninth-overall pick Marco Rossi, which Wild general manager Bill Guerin says has taken his name off the trade block after years of speculation, as relayed by Michael Russo of The Athletic.
“I’m very happy with Marco – oh my god, yeah,” Guerin said. “Just his pace of play, his engagement every night, he has been one of our best players. I think the biggest thing, too — and I know this is the hardest thing for young players — is his consistency… He’s doing all the right stuff.”
Rossi has parlayed that consistency into a top-line role between superstar Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello for the vast majority of the season, something that’s surely helped his production at face value. But one could make the argument that spending so much time with Rossi has helped Kaprizov along in his career-best pace, too. The Russian winger is clicking at a career-high 1.47 points per game and leads the league with 20 even-strength goals, all the while spending 22 of his 34 appearances on Rossi’s left flank. Rossi’s emergence has also proved necessary in the absence of No. 2 center Joel Eriksson Ek over the past month with a lower-body injury. Since Eriksson Ek’s last appearance on Dec. 3, Rossi has five goals and three assists in 10 contests while logging well over 20 minutes per game.
That’s made Rossi indispensable for a Wild club with aspirations of a deep playoff run. Now fueled by the next generation, including Rossi and stalwart Brock Faber on the back end, all signs point to them leveraging other assets to improve at the trade deadline instead of flipping Rossi as part of an upgrade for a big fish. With how well he’s performing, on pace for 28 goals and 66 points, it’s doubtful there would even be a veteran upgrade available down the middle on deadline day. Minnesota native Brock Nelson, who’s struggled offensively this season and is only on pace for 47 points, projects as the top center available on the block, Chris Johnston wrote for The Athletic earlier this month.
The question now for Guerin is how many financial resources he’s willing to commit to Rossi, who will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. The Wild have more than $13MM in cap space opening up this summer with a significant reduction in the impact of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, notwithstanding a salary cap increase of at least $4MM. That means they won’t have any issues acclimating a heavy raise on a potential long-term deal over the summer, but keeping an eye out for a multi-million dollar bump on Kaprizov’s current $9MM AAV contract that expires in 2026 remains paramount.
