How Marco Rossi Evolved His Game While Dominating the AHL

Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi blended into the NHL earlier this season but didn't stand out. A chat with his AHL coach helped lead him to improve.

When Iowa Wild coach Tim Army feels he needs to get through to a player 1-on-1, he’ll sometimes ask a player to grab a coffee and talk away from the rink.

After Marco Rossi played in his first five AHL games of the season, Army felt that the ninth overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft needed one of those chats. So, following an early December practice in Rockford, Army summoned Rossi to the lobby of the team’s hotel.

At the time, the 21-year-old center was amid a three-game point drought after notching four points in his first two games. Army said that while Rossi was playing a responsible two-way game, as he always does, he felt the second-year pro had more to give offensively.

Mind you, the reason the Minnesota Wild sent Rossi to Iowa was to regain his offensive mojo. After recording an NHL-high nine points in the pre-season, Rossi registered just one point in 16 regular-season games with Minnesota.

“He’s a guy we’re going to rely on to produce. To what level? We don’t know yet,” Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin told The Hockey News. “But Marco has offensive capabilities, and we wanted him to go down and just be able to just play.”

Army said he believed Rossi had to be more aggressive offensively. To do that, 5-foot-9 Austrian would have to adjust his mindset. 

Army gave him two simple instructions — be more assertive and rack up the points.

Step 1: Be more assertive.

“We want you to command the puck. We want you to have the puck,” Army recounted telling Rossi. “You deferred in Minnesota, and it’s OK – you’re a young player. But the next time you go up, you’re not going to defer.”

Rossi undoubtedly has an offensive pedigree — he recorded 2.14 points per game in his draft year with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s, trailing only Connor McDavid for the highest total from the past 10 seasons in the league, according to pick224.com. But he’s a very responsible two-way player.

Iowa Wild GM Michael Murray said the way Rossi thinks the game is in contrast to most young prospects.

“It’s almost like you have to give him that leash and say ‘Marco, it’s OK to push a little bit more on the offensive side of things. We know you’ll take care of the defensive part of the game.’ You have to release him from that burden, to pursue more offense,” Murray said.

The Wild would have done Rossi no good by keeping him in the NHL.

“Those first 16 games in Minnesota? He proved he could play in the NHL, but he kind of just blended in,” Murray said.

“He’s going to get his chance again, sometime soon. And we think he’ll be ready.” - Bill Guerin on Marco Rossi

Rossi said being snake-bitten offensively took a toll on his confidence.

“For a player like me, it’s important to have a lot of confidence and to play with that confidence,” Rossi said.

That plays into the second thing Army wanted him to do.

Step 2: Focus on putting up points.

“I want you to go into the game thinking that you want to get points,” Army recalled saying. “You’ve got to think that way.”

In the three months since that meeting, Rossi, who The Hockey News ranked 20th in this year’s Future Watch Issue, has executed on both fronts.

With 45 points in 44 AHL games, Rossi’s 1.02 points per game are second among U-22 skaters that have played at least 15 games.

Rossi also caught fire lately, recording 13 points in his last seven games and earning the AHL player of the week honors last week.

“I have really focused on creating more chances in the offensive zone, especially around the net because that’s the high-danger area,” Rossi said.

The numbers back Rossi up as well. He has produced 2.82 even-strength chances in the inner slot per 60 minutes, placing him in the 90th percentile amongst AHL forwards with at least 200 minutes played, according to InStat data. That’s a step up from his 2.57 chances last season, which had him in the 77th percentile.

Guerin said the Wild brass is encouraged by Rossi’s uptick in inner slot chances.

“You’ll never score in the National Hockey League without getting to the center of the ice. You just won’t,” Guerin said. “The fact that he’s doing that in the American Hockey League and doing it consistently is really important because it’s something that will translate to the next level.”

You’ll also have trouble scoring in any league if you don’t shoot. In the past, Rossi, a pure playmaker, has been a bit trigger shy.

“I have a good shot, but I sometimes don’t use it enough,” Rossi said.

But as the year continues, Rossi has been firing off more shots — averaging 2.86 per game in the second half of his 2022-23 campaign, an increase from his 2.27 shots per game in the first half of the year.

“It’s part of the overall picture of him being more hungrier,” Army said.

Rossi’s uptick in offense and how he’s been producing offense are encouraging, especially given the other ways he’s developed this year. Rossi has been a staple for Iowa in all situations – be it 5-on-5, the power-play or penalty kill – displaying all the characteristics of a future bona fide No. 1 center.

Despite being one of the youngest players on the team, Rossi dons an ‘A’ on his chest for Iowa and leads AHL forwards in ice time per game with 23:17, according to InStat.

“He’s always done everything we’ve asked,” Guerin said. “Now, the next part of it is Marco applying that to the NHL level. He’s going to get his chance again, sometime soon. And we think he’ll be ready.”