Marco Rossi is fresh off a breakout season with the Minnesota Wild, in which the No. 9 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft amassed 21 goals and 40 points in 82 games. But the 22-year-old's future is up in the air in Saint Paul, especially as he is set to become a restricted free agent next summer.
As The Fourth Period reported earlier this week, Rossi has become a trade candidate after the Wild missed the postseason for the first time in five seasons in April.
“As TFP first reported, the Wild have made Rossi available and are looking for a hockey trade, a talent-for-talent swap,” the outlet wrote on Monday while ranking the youngster at No. 21 on their summer trade board. “Rossi is an RFA next July and plenty of teams will be calling.”
Teams that have already begun contacting the Wild regarding Rossi's potential availability include the Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Utah Hockey Club.
Rossi is one of the top young forwards in Minnesota's system, being drafted by the franchise in 2020 before making his debut with the Iowa Wild in 2021-22. He was exceptional over two full seasons with the American Hockey League club, posting 53 points in 63 games in his first campaign and following it up with another 51 points in just 53 tries in 2022-23.
And although his debut with the Wild wasn't encouraging — Rossi put up just a single assist over 19 tilts that season — 2023-24 was a different story. Rossi scored a couple of highlight-reel goals over a full 82-game slate, and ended up seeing significant time on Minnesota's top powerplay unit along with Kirill Kaprizov. He also skated with the superstar at times at 5-on-5, while generally holding down the 2C role.
It was a very promising year for a player who likely has a long NHL career ahead of him — but that might not be with the team that drafted him.
Unusually long offseason full of questions for Wild
After failing to advance to the dance for the first time since 2018-19, there is understandably a lot of questions surrounding this franchise. Is it time for the Wild to retool, or is there belief that this roster can return to playoff contention in 2024-25?
It's a tough spot for general manager Bill Guerin to be in, especially as over $14 million in cap space must still be set aside to deal with the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, which continue to hamper this organization.
Still, Rossi has one more season remaining on his contract, and it's possible that the front office could look to re-sign the youngster, especially if he puts together another strong start to the 2024-25 season. But what's looking more likely is that he'll be dealt before training camp.
It will be very interesting to see if Guerin ends up moving one of his better young players, and what a possible return could look like for the 22-year-old.
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