ST. PAUL, Minn - July 1st is quickly approaching, a week from Tuesday that is. This means the Minnesota Wild have eight days to figure out a solution to the Marco Rossi situation before he is eligible to sign an offer sheet with any team on July 1.
The center is a restricted free agent which means the Wild can match any offer sheet a team gives him. But that doesn't mean they will. So, do they really want to go that route or would a trade be a better outcome?
“Well here’s the thing. We are not in a rebuild. So, we don’t want things that are going to help us five years down the line. We want to win now. We want to compete now and Marco helps us do that," Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin said on Fox9 with Jim Rich on Sunday night. "Marco is a really good player. He’s coming off a great year. He’s young. He’s a center. There is a lot of value to what he brings."
There are many NHL teams out there that would love to acquire a player like Rossi. He is coming off a 60-point season at the age of 23. But majority of the teams that would trade for Rossi would likely prefer to trade future assets like draft picks and prospects instead of impact NHL players like the Wild would be looking for.
The Wild aren't in the spot right now where trading a 60-point center for future assets makes sense. Trading Rossi would be a big hit to the team next year. So, Guerin wants to make sure that a trade of Rossi would not significantly hurt the team's chances of competing next year.
"The narrative out there is that we are dying to trade him. That’s not the case at all. I like Marco. He’s a good hockey player," Guerin said. "But just like every other hockey player, you like them at a certain price range. We have our structure and it’s got to fit within that. Marco is a heck of a hockey player and he helps us each and every night. I’m in no rush to do anything with him.”
Guerin made it sound like on Sunday that he is not looking to trade Rossi. But the team has not agreed to any type of contract and as it has been reported a few different times by The Athletic, a contact doesn't seem close after a few different contracts have been constructed but nothing signed.
So that would mean a trade would be imminent?
“The media puts that out there. Nobody really has any idea on what we are saying and what we are doing," Guerin said on Sunday during the Fox9 show. "The fact of the matter is, Marco played in the top-six role all year. For a couple games in the playoffs he played with Brazeau and Trenin and was really effective. He scored a couple goals and played great. That’s it. We’re just trying to win games in the playoffs. If feelings are hurt about that, then I can’t do anything about that. We’re just trying to win.”
It is hard to gage what the Wild are thinking of doing. As Guerin said, we don't have any idea on what they are saying and doing. So, we can only speculate.
Considering there has not been a contact signed and the July 1st deadline is approaching, a trade of Rossi really does seem likely. But like Guerin said, the media doesn't really know what's going on.
Other Marco Rossi News
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